To find her
by Hommeles
Summary: A mysterious girl turns up at Djose and looks just like someone they all know from the past. Takes place nineteen years after vegnagun. Please read and review !complete!
1. Regrets?

**My story:**

It has been nineteen years since Vegnaguns destruction, eighteen years since my disappearance and sixteen years since they had stopped searching for me. I always thought they'd stop sooner, but hoped they would search longer. But they didn't…and somehow…that still makes me sad.

The reason why I left?

That's why you're reading this story, to find that out. To find out what happened to me all those years ago.

Regrets?

I always had and always will have regrets. They make my heart ache sometimes. But the biggest regrets of your live are the chances you never take.

But I did.

I took my chances.

And it changed my life…my story forever.

This is my story…

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**A/N: **_I had this idea for a new story. It's kind of mysterious and spiritual or...at least that's what I'm planning it to be like. This is the beginning of the story. I'm not going to tell you all who it is that's 'saying' or rather 'writing' this. That's for you to discover during the development of this story. More chapters will come, but it has to wait for a little while longer. I have a few chapters to type for my other stories. But as I thought of this story, I wrote it down since I was afraid that I might loose it :P._

_Anyway...I just wanted to know what you all think about it..._

_So uhm...review?_


	2. Paper day

**A/N:** !_**You need to read this first, I have to explain something before you start reading this story!:**_

_The story is told in two parts. The first part in every story is 'The present'. It tells the story of people we know from Ffx2 and how their lives are 19 years later. _

_The second part is called 'The letter'. You read the first part of the letter in chapter 1 -the beginning-_ It tells the story of that person who left 18 years ago.

_In every chapter a new piece of that letter will be revealed. Put the pieces together and you will find out what happened. _

_--- _

_I know I promised not to updated before finishing my other stories. I just got so many ideas and I already have the entire story planned out in my head :P. So I started writing, I have a week off from school after all. _

_I will continue with my other stories, they come first. So I don't know when the next update will be. I'm trying to make the chapters long, every chapter about 4 pages or longer. _

_Well...here is the first 'real' chapter of my new story '**To find her' **I hope you'll like it :). _

_And I've asked it before and I'll ask it again: 'If you see any grammar mistakes, please note them to me so I can fix them. Thank you:) _

* * *

**The present**

'Cary! Dinner's ready!' A brown haired woman yelled up the stairs of a two-floor apartment somewhere in Luca. She stayed by the stairs for a few seconds listening to any sounds coming from upstairs. She could still hear the loud music that was coming from a room somewhere on the second floor. 'Cary!!' She yelled a little louder. She could hear movement and soon after that the music turned down a little.

'What?!' Someone yelled back to her not so nicely when a door opened.

The brunette sighed and took a deep breath. 'Dinner's ready!'

'Yeah yeah.' Was the reply, the door closed again and the music turned back up.

She shook her head and left the hallway, going back to the kitchen where she had served dinner on the kitchen table. Three plates were all set out but she was the only one there as of yet.

Not long after she took a seat in her usual chair a door opened and a blonde man walked in the room. 'Good evening sweetheart.' He said, giving her a kiss on her cheek. 'Smells delicious.' He said and took a peek under the lid, vegetable stew.

The woman smiled warmly at him and patted on the back rest. 'Come sit.' She said and gave him a wink.

He did just that and started to fill his plate. 'Cary's not home?' He said surprised, while he scooped up the last spoon of stew and grabbed for his fork.

The brunette sighed. 'He is, but he's having one of his puberty attacks.'

The man chuckled and shook his head in amusement.

'It's not funny Tidus. I'm the one whose stuck with him all day, and he's acting it all out on me.' She said and pouted.

Tidus laughed again and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. 'Cheer up Yuna, it'll pass over, I swear.'

This time it was Yuna who chuckled, although it was more a sarcastic one. 'Yeah right, you've been saying that for nearly 4 years now.' She leaned her head in her hands while her elbows were on the kitchen table on each sides of her plate. 'I just don't know what to do anymore.'

Just as the words left her mouth the door opened again and a boy around the age of 18 came strolling in. His hair was light brown and a bit long and messy. He had sky-blue eyes which looked at Tidus and Yuna before staring ahead of him again. He wore a darkblue wide pair of jeans, the right pipe was the usual length while the other came till just under the knee. His T-shirt was blue and hung loosely around his torso. He had a leather band around his left wrist whit the emblem of an ancients Blitzball team.

He took a seat at the table across from his father and started to fill his plate just like Tidus had done about 3 minutes ago. 'Were you talking about me again mom?' He asked in a dull voice.

Yuna looked down at her still empty plate with a defeated look on her face. She didn't want to go into another discussion with her son, she had to many of those with him already. Instead she just started to rub her temples thinking that another headache was coming up.

Tidus stared between the two of them with his fork in his mouth feeling the tension between the two of them. He removed the silverware and swallowed. 'Well hello to you too Cary.' He said with his eyebrows raised.

Cary just waved with his fork and started poking in his dinner. 'Whatever.'

Yuna placed both hands on the table and pushed herself up from her seat. 'I think I'll just…'

Tidus looked up at his wife with concern. 'But honey, you haven't even eaten yet.'

Yuna walked towards the living room and waved it off. 'I'm not that hungry anymore.' She said and disappeared behind the wall.

Tidus closed his eyes shut and bit his lip. 'Are you happy now?' He said softly, referring to Cary who pretended to not hear him. 'Why are you making things so hard for her huh?' Tidus continued to ask.

Cary sighed annoyed and stuck his fork in his dinner. 'I'm not that hungry anymore either.' He said and stood up from the table.

'Oh yeah right, that's just great.' His father said frustrated. 'You just go ahead and run away from everything!'

Cary just shook his head and left trough the door to go back upstairs to his room.

Tidus slammed his fist on the kitchen table and growled under his breath. Suddenly he heard a soft sniffling sound. He sighed when he realized what it was.

'Yuna, it's okay.' He said as he stood up and went over to her.

She was sitting on the couch with her head buried in her hands. She didn't reply, instead she just sniffled louder even a few sobs escaped her. Tidus sat beside her and rapped his arms around her shoulders. 'He doesn't mean it like that, you know that right?' He said in a comforting voice. When she still didn't say anything he squeezed her a bit. 'Right?'

She removed her hands and placed them on her lap. Her face was all red and puffy, her cheeks were wet. 'I guess so.' She sniffled.

Problems started when _she_ had left, or rather ran away. No one knew what was going on and why she had left everyone. All Tidus knew was that she was still there one day, but gone on the other. Yuna had fallen into a depression soon afterwards. After a few weeks to be exact, when people started talking…when they said that she was probably never going to be found.

Some even said she was dead. This only made it harder for her. They were best friends after all.. Hell, even Tidus was a good friend of hers. And then she left…and everything changed…

-

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

An alarm clock went off somewhere in Djose but was soon followed by a loud thumb, the alarm clock stopping with it.

A blond haired man around his mid-thirties, maybe a little older, growled as he slowly opened his eyes. His green swirls scanned the room before falling on the silent alarm clock that was standing besides his bed on a nightstand.

5.00 Am

'Great.' He mumbled and rubbed his forehead with his hands, moving towards his hair. He sat up in bed placing both his feet on the cold ground, but he was used to it so he didn't even winch. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood up straight making his feet move towards his private bathroom that was just a few feet away.

'A nice hot shower it was I need.' He said to himself and started to run the water.

He looked at himself in the mirror while he stretched his arms. 'Good morning.' He mumbled.

After taking his shower he grabbed the needed clothes that were scattered all over the floor and dressed himself in a pair of dark green pants and an old looking T-shirt that used to be orange but now seemed more like a washed out brown.

He pulled his eye patch over his right eye and strolled out of his bathroom, then bedroom and into the long hallway. During this walk towards the kitchen, that usually lasted about 20 minutes because every time he walked passed someone they wanted to ask him something about a machina or about a new shipment, stuff like that, he thought about all the work that had to be done for that day. It was Thursday so that meant:

'Paper day, perfect.' Gippal growled under his breath.

He finally reached the kitchen and grabbed himself a bowl where he would be pouring some cornflakes in later.

He sank on his usual kitchen chair after he grabbed a spoon. He pulled his bowl up to him and started eating.

After eating he would be going to his room to start doing the papers that had been piling up his desk for the last week. He hated Thursdays.

He'd rather have his hands stuck in some machina on the ground, getting himself all covered up with grease and machine oil.

Things had been going pretty well for the Machine Faction for the last couple of years. Gippal was relieved to see that, 'cause it had been different once. It was a long time ago but Gippal remembered it perfectly well. And it all happened because of _her. _Because she left. She just left one day and never came back. No one knew where she had gone too, and why. Gippal didn't understand either. He had known her pretty well, but he never suspected that something was wrong. He never would've guessed that she was the type to run away from her problems. She had never done so before, why then?

'Gippal cen!' ((Gippal sir)) Someone interrupted his thoughts. Gippal looked sideways at the door where a man, one of his workers, was standing. It was Thealan, he recognized him. He was one of his older workers, being 12 years older them himself.

The Faction leader looked down at his bowl and sighed. It was always the same song, he could never just enjoy a quiet breakfast without interruptions. 'Oac?' ((Yes?))

'Cen…cusauha ec...E sayh...oui paddan lusa caa drec cen.' (Sir…someone is…I mean…you better come see this sir))

Gippal pushed himself up, picked up his bowl and placed it in the sink behind him. 'What is it? A problem with some machina?'

The man shook his head and looked at him with a serious expression. 'No sir, it's something else.'

Gippal walked up the man and made a gesture to lead to way. 'A shipment then?'

'No sir.' The man replied, while they walked down the stairs.

'Not a shipment ey...paper problems?' He crossed his fingers behind his back. 'Please let it not be a paper problem.' He silently wished.

'It's not a paper problem either sir.' They passed the workers who were tinkering somewhere in the corners.

Gippal frowned. 'What is it then?'

They came towards the front doors that were already wide open. 'Zicd caa vun ouincamv cen.' ((Just see for yourself sir.)) He said and pointed towards someone that was standing beside a bald man with glasses who was showing her a machina he was repairing.

Gippal followed his point and narrowed his eye when they fell upon the girl. She seemed pretty young, probably a teenager, but Gippal couldn't tell for sure since she was turned with her back towards him. 'E tuh'd caa fryd'c cu cbaleym, Thealan.' ((I don't see what's so special, Thealan.))

'Zicd fyed yht caa...' ((Just wait and see…)) He replied, then he whistled and waved to get the girl's attention. 'Hey!' He yelled.

The girl looked over her shoulder to see who was calling. She noticed the two men standing just outside the doors and turned around fully to wave back at them. As she ran towards them Gippal frowned and narrowed his eye. He knew her face, she seemed familiar.

When she was just a few feet away his breath got caught in his throat.

'She looks just like her…'

His eye was wide open now as he stared at her when she stood before him. It was all he could do, stare. Everything about this girl, this person remembered him of _her._ But it couldn't be her, this girl before him was around the age of 16…17 maybe?

The girl waved and grinned at him. 'Re, oui sicd pa Gippal.' ((Hi, you must be Gippal.))

**--- --- --- **

**The letter**

I never meant to hurt anyone when I left. At least…not everyone…

No one would've thought that I would leave and never come back. And that's one of the reasons why I did it, why I left without a word.

Everyone always told me that I was so predictable. Now they would think otherwise.

Of course it's not the main reason…it's just a small thing that plays a part.

When I left I found myself to feel so relieved.

Everything I ever worried about just washed away. I didn't have to think about anything or anyone. I could do whatever I wanted and no one would comment on it, no one would look down on me.

But that feeling of relieve soon disappeared.

I had another…problem…  
And I knew that soon I had to think of something to make things work out right again.

* * *

_Please review and let me know what you think._

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	3. The arrival

**The present**

'E'ja raynt y mud ypuid oui.' The girl said still with that grin on her face. ((I've heard a lot about you.))

Gippal still had no words, he was stunned.

Thealan leaned over to Gippal and mumbled in Spiran. 'Like a twin, don't you think?'

Gippal blinked when the words left his mouth. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. 'Uhm…yeah.' He mumbled turning his head towards Thealan but with his eyes still on the girl that stood before him. She tilted her head to a side and raised her eyebrows. 'Cunno? E tuh'd ihtancdyht.' ((Sorry? I don't understand.)) The girl said looking from one to another with confusement.

Gippal frowned and gave Thealan a look. 'Huh? She can't speak Spiran?'

The man shrugged and shook his head. 'I'm as surprised as you are sir.'

The girl in front of the men pouted.

When Gippal saw the pout it felt as if his heart stopped. He started coughing again, his hand before his mouth.

'Yna oui ugyo cen?' ((Are you okay sir?)) Thealan asked patting him on the back.

'Oac oac, E's veha.' ((Yes yes, I'm fine)) He replied and turned back towards the girl who was waiting patiently for him to talk to her. He noticed that she had been staring at him the entire time, but she didn't aver her stare when he looked at her. She just smiled and stared right into his eye.

'Uhmm… Fryd fyc ouin hysa ykyeh?' ((Uhmm…what was your name again?))

The girl smiled cutely at him. 'E teth'd kyja oui so hysa.' ((I didn't gave you my name))

'…Right…' He said with suspicion. Who was this girl standing before him.

--

**At Bevelle**

It was a quiet day in Bevelle. Thursdays were always quiet for the Praetor since it was his day off.

No meetings…

No commsphere…

No papers…

No nothing.

He was lying on the couch with his hands behind his head. His eyes were closed, indicating that he was asleep, although he wasn't. He was just resting and enjoying the peace and quiet he was receiving at the moment.

Suddenly his comm. Sphere went off and he growled.

Why was it that whenever he was resting something disturbed him a few minutes later.

He grabbed the small device of the coffee table and clicked on a button to connect.

'Yes.' he said in an annoyed voice.

'Whoa, are we grumpy in the morning.' an amused voice replied, a voice that the praetor recognized o so well.

'Gippal?' he said surprised to see his old friend. He ran a hand trough his grey hair. It had been a while since Gippal called him. 'What are you calling for?'

Gippal changed into serious Gippal and he gave his friend a look that he couldn't place. 'You should come over and see what I have here.' his voice sounded weird, like he wasn't sure about something…or confused…Baralai didn't know. The Faction leader was sitting in his office, the sound of workers was heard silently on the background.

'Why?' he asked surprised. The last time he went to Djose would have been at least 5 months ago and that was on Gippals birthday.

'Trust me…you want to see this.' Gippal said seriously. When Baralai still gave him a confused look he sighed and averted the sphere. The view changed and when the sphere stopped moving a girl came into view. She was sitting in a chair near Gippals desk.

When Baralai's eyes came upon the girl they widened and his mouth nearly dropped down on the floor. 'What the…' He mouthed, barely hearable but Gippal heard him anyway.

'Yeah I know, amazing isn't it.' The sphere turned back and Gippal came back into view again.

'Is she…when…how…?' Baralai didn't know what the say, the resemblance was striking. 'Did you call her father yet?'

Gippal nodded while he stared at something, probably the girl in the chair.

'Yuna?'

Gippal nodded again. 'Yeah, I called all of them. You and Paine are the last two.'

Baralai bit his lip not knowing what to say.

'She just stood on my doorstep this morning.' Gippal spoke, interrupting Baralai's thoughts.

He narrowed his eyes. 'Do you think it's just a coincidence?'

The Faction leader shook his head and shrugged. 'I don't know…maybe…maybe not…'

The sound of a door that opened and closed was heard and it made Gippals head shot up looking hastily at the door then back at the sphere. 'I got to go Lai, she just left. Go tell Paine to come along too, I want everyone here so we can sort this thing out.'

Baralai nodded and the connection closed.

---

Gippal stood up and walked around his desk to get to the door, hitting his shin on a drawer that was left open in the process. He winched put continued on, opening the door to reveal the working Al Bhed.

As he stepped into the hall he looked around and noticed to his great relieve that she was standing just a few feet away, looking at a broken machina standing alone in the corner with interest.

He walked over to her in a steady pace and came to a halt when he stood beside her.

She was looking it with such interest that he couldn't help but smile down at the girl.

'Tu oui ghuf ruf du veq machina?' ((Do you know how to fix machina?)) He asked, catching her attention.

She looked up, bangs falling in front of her eyes. Eyes that looked so much like hers. Gippal had to watch himself not to gasp.

'Oac.' ((Yes)) she said simply and smiled at him with that cute smile of hers. He couldn't help but smile back. It reminded him of _her _again, his smile faded slightly remembering that she couldn't be her. This girl was way to young.

'Cra dyikrd sa.' ((She taught me.)) she said before bending down to examine the machina a bit closer.

His head shot up and he stared at the back of her head with his eye widened. 'Fryd?' ((What?!))

'Gippal!' Someone called from outside making him look up before looking back down at the girl again.

'E'mm...E'mm pa nekrd pylg, ugyo? Cdyo rana.' ((I'll…I'll be right back, okay? Stay here.))

He said and ran towards the man that called him who was now standing on the inside.

'Cina.' ((Sure.)) She said in a soft voice, while she tinkered with the machina after she found herself a wrench on the ground somewhere.

When Gippal arrived, the man took him outside and led him over to an airship that had just landed. A bald old looking man was standing in front of it together with another man with short blonde hair standing beside him. They both looked up when Gippal came towards the two of them.

'Ah Gippal, ruf'ja oy paah?' ((Ah Gippal, how've ya been?)) The old bald man asked while smacking the Faction leader on his back when he arrived.

Gippal 'oofed' and smiled a wiry smile. 'Veha, zicd veha. Ruf ypuid oui Cid?' ((Fine, just fine. How about you Cid?)) He replied.

Cid laughed a belly-laugh. 'Never been better.'

--

**Luca**

As soon as Yuna and Tidus got the call from Djose temple they had packed up a few things and grabbed the first hover towards Mushroom Rockroad. With a whole lot of trouble Tidus was able to get Cary to go with them as well. He didn't want him to stay at home since he wasn't sure how long they were going to stay at Djose. But from what he had heard from Gippal it would probably be for some time, till they sort this thing out.

Yuna was on pins and needles the whole ride towards Djose, anxious to see this girl that looked so much like _her_. Tidus was anxious too but not as much as his wife.

As for Cary, he couldn't care less. He was still mad that he had to come with them. When they told him that they would go to Djose for some time he was glad and had hoped that he could stay at home alone, but his father, especially his mother, had insisted on him to go with them. He was silent the during the entire hover ride.

As they arrived at Djose they immediately noticed the large group of people standing outside the register tent.

Tidus was the first to jump off the hover, giving a hand to his wife when his feet were planted on the floor.

Cary helped himself down, grabbing his small suitcase in the process and proceeded towards the temple, leaving his parents behind him.

Yuna sighed and placed her bag on her shoulder, following her husband who was already walking.

When they got closer they noticed that the people standing near the tent were actually their close friends so they changed their destination.

Yuna waved when they arrived and smiled a small smile.

Tidus stood next to Gippal and hit him on the back. 'Hiya Gip, how's life?'

Gippal laughed and smacked him back. 'Great, yours?'

'Same as ever.' The blue-eyed blonde replied.

Paine was there too, she stood beside Baralai with a girl standing on the other side of her.

The girl had very white blonde hair that reached her earlobe, it was done in a wildish style, an out of bed kind of look. She had soft hazel colored eyes. She was dressed in a short dark red skirt with a simple black tank top. Around her hips rested a broad black belt covered with little round silver buttons. In her ears were long earrings with tiny beads in the colors red white and black. The girl looked around the age of 15.

She was standing there with her hands folded behind her back looking innocent.

When Paine spotted Yuna she walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. 'Hey, long time no see.' She said with a small smile.

Yuna smiled back at her warmly. 'Yes. How are you?'

Paine nodded and looked back at Baralai and the girl. 'Good. How bout you?'

Yuna's smile faded slightly as she looked towards the temple doors where Cary had gone trough a couple of minutes ago. 'Fine I guess.' Her voice sounded kind of sad.

Paine knew what went on in their household so she wasn't surprised to get that kind of a response out of her. She just nodded at her with concerned eyes. 'I see…'

Yuna looked down and smiled. 'So uhm…' She looked back up. 'Kyran isn't here?'

Paine raised her eyebrows. 'Oh he's here…somewhere.' She said and smiled. 'He can't stand still very long, so he's already in the temple.' She sighed. 'Seriously…sometimes I even wonder if he really is mine. He doesn't look like me nor Baralai.'

Yuna giggled. 'Well, at least you're sure about Tylian.'

'Then I should be sure about Kyran too, since they're twins.'

The brown haired woman laughed.

Gippal cleared his throat suddenly and got everyone's attention. 'Everybody…you all know why I called you over.'

Everyone nodded.

'Alright then, follow me.' He said in a serious tone. The whole group was quiet as they followed him into the temple.

--

**The letter**

I found a place to live, somewhere…safe.

Somewhere I knew that no one would ever find me.

Of course…I had to make some changes on my appearance. Like my hair, my clothes, you know things like that.

So I did…

Not that anyone I ran into before recognized me anyway, but it was just a precaution. Just to be sure.

I liked the new me.

The new and improved me, I liked to call myself.

I didn't change my name, I just never told anyone what my name was. Not that there are many people around here.

I miss that sometimes…the business of a city like Luca, you know?

But whenever I feel kind of alone, I always tell myself,

This is what you choose for.

This is how you live now.

So suck it up and be happy.

* * *

**A/N: **_The person has been revieled...more or less...right? I think a lot of you already have a good idea who this person that they're missing is._

_I choose not to use her name, like they never used the name Tidus in FFx2. And did you know that they never mentioned his name in FFx either. He never even introduced himself like: 'Hi I'm Tidus.' He never ever says anything like that! No wonder they never say his name in FFx2, they don't even know what his name is, ghehe :P_

_Okay never mind I said that, just me and my thoughts, that's all._

_But uhm..._

_please review?_

_Pretty please? XD_


	4. The girl in the corner

**A/N: **_Here it is, chapter 4. It's a little bit shorter then the other two, but oh well. _

_I know that the story might be a little bit hard to understand, but that's the whole point really. I just hope people stick with it long enough, because things will become clearer once you come further down the storyline. _

_Anyways, I finnished this chapter just a couple of minutes ago, there could still be a few or perhaps a lot (of) grammar mistakes in it. If you find one (or maybe two) please tell me._

_Thanks,_**

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**

**The present**

When Cary passed the doors of the temple and started walking towards the stairs someone grabbed him by his shoulder, making him spin around in surprise.

Before him was a boy with white/grey hair and dark red eyes, that sparkled mischieviously. His hair was long and spiked up in a wildish style. He wore a short black pair of pants with army like boots underneath. His plain white T-shirt had a skull imprinted on it. The boy looked at him with amused eyes and a smirk on his face.

'Hey man, what's up?' The white haired boy asked Cary when he removed his hand from his shoulder.

Cary smiled, recognizing him immediately, it was Kyran. They were friends ever since they were kids. 'Nothing, how bout you?'

He shrugged and casually put his hands in his pockets. 'Nothing either. I'm bored.' He said and sighed kicking with his feet against a small piece of metal that was lying on the floor. 'You know why we're here?' he asked looking back at his friend.

Cary nodded and sat down on the stairs. 'Yeah, more or less.' He leaned forward on his arms and looked around nonchalantly.

'Good, 'cause I want you to meet someone.' He said to Cary in a secretive tone that made Cary raise his eyebrows. Kyran made a gesture with his hand that said 'follow me'. Cary stood up and put his hands into the pockets of his baggy pants. 'Alright, got nothing better to do around here anyway.' He said before he followed his friend.

Kyran walked towards one of the dark corners of the large temple hall. When they came closer a shadowy figure who was in a kneeling position came into view. Cary narrowed his eyes to get a better sight but it was to dark, he could only see the outlines of the person.

'Hey you!' Kyran said and whistled. The shadow moved slightly and Cary could recognize it as a girl now.

'Oui ykyeh?' ((You again?)) The girl said in a monotone voice as she stood up and stepped out of the shadows.

Cary's heart skipped a beat when he saw the girl before him.

She was absolutely gorgeous.

She had half long light blond hair with bangs that covered most of her left eye. Her eyes were a dark green with swirls and they seemed to twinkle with cheerfulness. The girl was dressed in a green pair of worn out shorts, very short shorts and a brown belt that hang loosely around her hips with a couple of pouches. Her top was short, sleeveless and white with grease stains all over the place. It showed a small part of her stomach, just above her bellybutton. There was a necklace around her neck, silver, with a small locket hanging from it. Around her right wrist was a leather band, nothing special. Her earrings were long and colorful with all the green, yellow, red and orange beads.

'…speak Spiran, so I can't really communicate with her.'

Cary shook his head to clear his thoughts. 'Huh? What?' He asked as he looked over at Kyran.

Kyran gave him a weird look. 'What what? Haven't you been listening?' Cary blinked at him and shook his head.

'No sorry.' A smirk played his lips.

Kyran narrowed his eyes at the brown haired boy. 'Aha…right. I said that she can't speak Spiran, so I haven't been able to talk to her.' He told him a bit more slowly this time, and a bit louder too. 'I think she's the reason why we're here. What do you think?'

Cary gave a sideway glance at the blondine before him, he noticed that she was looking at him too with an cheerful smile on her lips. Cary blushed when he saw that she was looking him straight in the eyes and he quickly averted them back to Kyran.

'Well I don't know…Can't you speak Al Bhed?'

Kyran shook his head. 'Nope…I can say 'Hello' in Al bhed though.' He said and turned to the girl. 'Rammu.' He waved at her. She giggled at him childishly.

'Re.'

Cary looked back at the girl when her attention was on Kyran. 'I can't speak Al Bhed all that well either, but at least I can say a bit more then 'Hello.'

Kyran gave him a pat on the back. 'Oh yeah, that's right! You're mom is half Al Bhed, huh?'

'Yeah.' Cary snorted. 'But she's not the one that taught me. She can't speak Al Bhed all that well. I probably know more then she does.' He said shaking his head disapprovingly. 'My dad taught me. He learned it when he was my mom's guardian.' He turned back towards the girl and took a step forward. She frowned at him and watched him closely, like she was scared that he was going to do something unexpected.

'Re, fru yna oui?' ((Hi, who are you?)) he asked, taking his time on pronouncing the words, afraid that he might say something wrong.

The girl smiled cutely. 'E ys sa.' Was the reply.

Cary narrowed his eyes trying hard to translate the three words she just said to him.

'Well? What did she say?' Kyran asked him impatiently. He never was all that patient, he always needed an answer right away. 'Waiting' or 'patience' didn't exist in his dictionary.

'I'm not sure…'E' means 'I'…'y'…a…am, 'I am…sa me. 'I am me'.' He said, successfully translating the three words she said. He frowned though, so did Kyran.

'I am me? What does that mean?' The white haired boy asked confused.

'I don't know.' He said as he stared at the Al Bhed girl.

She tilted her head to the left and smiled again before turning around to tinker with a machina that was lying on the floor, like the two of them weren't even there.

'Kyran, Cary!'

The two boys swirled around at the sound of their names. It was Gippal who called them, he stood there near the large doors of the temple with the entire group behind him.

The two of them exchanged glances and walked over to the group. But not before Cary had cast a last glance at the girl in the corner.

'Hey you two, what were you doing over there?' Gippal asked them curiously.

Kyran was the one that stepped up. He shrugged his shoulders lightly. 'Just talking to this girl.'

Cary looked over to his parents that stood next to each other. He noticed that his mother was looking at him with saddened eyes. He shook his head annoyingly and looked down at the floor.

'What girl?' Tylian, Kyran's twin sister asked. She stepped up from behind her mother and now stood next to Kyran. She looked at him with big hazel eyes.

'The girl in the corner.' He said, flicking his sister on the forehead. 'Don't be so nosy all the time, it's annoying.'

'Auw!' She yelped, grabbing her forehead. 'Mom!'

Paine sighed but didn't respond, she gave up on it a long time ago. After playing cop between the two of them for 12 whole years, she decided that it was time for them to solve their problems their own way.

Gippal chuckled at the twins. 'Alright. Uhm, everyone.' He said, trying to get everyone's attention back. 'I don't think it's wise to go over there all at the same time. She's a little…shy…she gets uncomfortable when a lot of people are near her. So I suggest that the kids stay behind, while the rest of us go over there.'

Everyone agreed.

'Okay then.' Gippal said and placed one hand on his side. 'Tylian, Kyran and Cary, the three of you can wait in the application room over there.' He said pointing towards the door that was on the right side of the staircase. 'Or you can wander around a bit.'

The kids nodded, while the others gathered around Gippal.

'The four of you can wait in my office, you know where it is.' Gippal said. 'I'll bring her over, alright?'

The group of four started to walk towards the door on the left side of the stairs.

Gippal sighed as he remained behind. He looked over at the dark corner where the girl in question was tinkering.

'Aqlica sa.' ((Excuse me)) Gippal said as soon as he stood beside her.

The girl didn't even look up. 'Oac?' ((Yes?)) She continued her work.

'Drana yna cusa baubma E't mega oui du saad.' ((There are some people I'd like you to meet.)) He said watching her carefully.

She kept on working on the machina, turning it around to place a small bolt on it's right position. 'Fru?' ((Who?))

'Zicd cusa baubma.' ((Just some people)) He said kneeling down beside her.

She turned the bolt one last time before she put it back down. 'Tuha.' She said and smiled triumphantly. She put away the tools she had been using and whipped the sweet off her forehead. 'Huf du bicr drec yht...' ((Now to push this and…)) She said pushing a little green button. At an instant the machina jumped to live and started walking around. It made the girl squeal in delight and she looked up at Gippal with an oversized grin.

Gippals face fell as he looked at the girl. She looked so much like her, he felt like he couldn't breathe when she smiled at him.

'Huf…' She said while she stood up. With her hands she dusted the dirt off her shorts. 'Mad'c ku saad cusa baubma.' ((Now…let's go meet some people))

**---**

**The letter**

I never really thought that people would miss me when I had just left.

They searched for me for two years, two whole years…but they didn't notice that I was gone for a long while before those two years of searching.

You think people know you, that people care about you.

And then you hear something like that, and you know that it was all a lie.

That it was all fake.

You know how long it took them before they noticed?

A month…a month after I left someone started asking around.

'Gee, I haven't seen her in a while…do you know where she is?'

I felt so sad…

I never felt so sad in my life.

And you know who that someone was?

…

My brother.

My brother! Out of all the people I know, it was my brother who noticed…after a whole month!

I couldn't believe it when I heard it on the news.

_Yes I have a sphere screen, I didn't turn into a naturist._

You'd think that it isn't so weird that a brother would be the first to notice (even if it's after a month) but you see…I never had a good bond with my brother. We always fought and we never really got along all that well.

He used to tease on me when I was just four or five years old. You know…the brother and sister kind of stuff.

When I grew older I was the one that teased on him.

He never really liked that transition.

I never cared.

* * *

_Please review._

_And thank you for those who already did! I'll try to send a mail back to everyone who reviews, but sometimes I tend to forget.  
Sorry..._


	5. A little shy

**A/N: **_Sorry it took me so long to update. But here it is, finally! Chapter 5..._

Enjoy

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**The present**

When the door to Gippals office opened, everyone who was inside looked up immediately, eager to see this girl that made them come all the way to Djose. Gippal stepped into the room with the girl in question following him close behind. She stood behind Gippals back like if she was hiding when all eyes fell upon her.

Baralai cleared his throat and was the first to speak up. 'Uhm…should we say something to her?'

Gippal shrugged, he didn't really know, he hadn't thought it through yet. He turned slightly and looked over his shoulder to look at the girl. She was still hiding behind his back her hands were fiddling on a string of her hair. She bit her lip and looked up at him. 'E's geht uv hanjuic.' ((I'm kind of nervous)) She said in a soft voice and smiled weakly.

Gippal pursed his lip and took a quick glance at the others before looking back at the girl. She looked frightened. 'Oui tuh'd ryja duu, drao fuh'd rind oui.' ((You don't have too, they won't hurt you.)) It was the only thing that came up in his mind to say. He smiled at her reassuringly, a smile that should calm her nerves.

She nodded and peeked her head out from behind him to check the room, her surroundings, and of course the people that were in the room.

As if on queue everybody, except for Gippal and the girl, gasped when they saw her face. The girl stepped out from behind Gippal fully but remained remarkable close to him. She wasn't very tall, and next to Gippal she looked even smaller.

It was silent for a minute or so as everybody took her in. The girl averted her eyes towards the ground and shifted her feet uncomfortably. Gippal noticed that she looked somewhat scared. He frowned at the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder but it didn't make her look up.

Suddenly Yuna started to cry softly and Tidus rapped his arms around her frame to comfort her. This only made the girl more nervous and she took a step back, still not looking up.

'It's okay, don't cry.' He spoke to her softly and kissed her on her cheek.

Paine swallowed and shifted in her seat. 'I don't know what to say…the resemblance is striking.' She breathed. Her husband nodded with wide eyes as he still looked at the girl.

'When did you say she turned up?' Tidus asked still with his arms around Yuna.

Gippal looked from them down at the girl beside him. 'Around 6 Am I think.'

'Today?'

Gippal nodded at Tidus second question.

'Has _her _father been here yet?' Paine asked looking down at the cold stone floor.

'Yes, he's still around here somewhere. He took one look at her and he took off towards the sleeping quarters without another word,' Gippal said. '_Her_ brother talked to her though.'

It remained silent again.

Yuna sniffled and wiped the tears from her face. She looked up at the girl who was still looking down at the floor. She sighed and stood up. 'Well, let's ask her something.' Yuna walked over to her and placed both of her hands on the girls shoulder to catch her attention. It did get her attention since her head shot up in surprise looking up with big green eyes. Yuna bit her lip when her face was so close to hers. She looked so much…so unbelievable much like her.

The brunette's eyes saddened. 'So uhm…where did you come from?'

The girl gave her a confused look and looked from her to Gippal for help.

Gippal, who cleared his throat, stepped up. 'She can't speak Spiran.'

This made everyone in the room raise their eyebrows.

'She can't?' Paine asked disbelievingly.

Yuna too was surprised. 'Who doesn't speak Spiran these days?' She asked.

Gippal shrugged. 'Apparently she doesn't,' he said and pursed his lips. 'We'll just have to speak in Al Bhed to her then. Better start now, all this talking in Spiran isn't making her feel comfortable.' He said referring to the girl that was inching her way back behind Gippal.

Yuna looked down for a moment before she spoke again. 'But…not everyone in this room can speak Al Bhed, right?' She looked over her shoulder to check upon the others.

Paine shrugged and crossed her legs. 'I can.'

Tidus scratched his head and nodded then. 'Me too.'

The brunette looked from her husband towards the praetor who bit his lip. 'Well…just a little. I'm not all that good at it.'

Yuna sighed and looked back at Gippal. 'My Al Bhed isn't good either.'

Gippal, who nodded, placed his hands on the girls back and pushed her lightly towards an empty chair. 'Oui lyh ced rana.' ((You can sit here))

The girl nods as a reply.

Yuna sighed and walked back towards her own seat where Tidus immediately placed his hand on her leg. 'We'll translate for you, if needed.'

'Have you asked her what her name is yet?' Baralai asked to his friend. Gippal shook his head while he pulled up his desk chair from behind his desk. 'No not yet.' They were now sitting in a circle. Yuna and Tidus were on a brown couch with Paine sitting on it's armrest. Baralai sat on a wooden chair just like the girl and Gippal has his own desk chair.

Baralai nodded and gives his wife a look that makes her roll her eyes. 'Alright I'll ask.' She bends forward placing her arms on her legs for support. 'Fryd ec ouin hysa.' ((What is your name?))

They all waited in utter silence for the girl to reply

But strangely enough it remained silent.

Gippal bit his lip. 'Rammu?' ((Hello?)) He tries.

The girl looks up and stares at him, then suddenly she turns her head towards Paine. 'Oui'na Paine...ynah'd oui?' ((You're paine…aren't you?)) It was meant to be a question but it didn't sound like one. It sounded like she knew what she was talking about, like she knew the person who she spoke to. Her eyes moved towards the praetor. 'Yht oui'na Baralai.' ((And you're Baralai)) She looked at Tidus and Yuna. 'Oui'na Tidus, yht Yuna…' ((You're Tidus, and Yuna…)) Her eyes remained on Yuna a bit longer before she looks down at her hands that were neatly folded in her lap.

The party stares at her in shock.

'How did she…' Tidus mumbled.

Baralai was frowning and looked at Gippal. The Machine Faction leader looked kind of shocked as well, with his mouth slightly parted. 'Did you tell her about us before you brought her here?'

Gippal shook his head. 'I haven't told her anything.'

'She still hasn't told us what her name is.' Yuna said in a soft voice.

They all looked at the girl. 'Fryd'c ouin hysa?' ((What's your name?)) Tidus asked not moving his eyes from the girl. She didn't reply. Tidus closed his eyes and sighed. 'This isn't getting us anywhere.'

Gippal stood up and crouched down in front of the girl. He was now one head smaller and he could easily look from under her bangs to see her eyes. 'Fryd ec ouin hysa? ((What is your name?)) He asked her, fiercer then Tidus just did.

The girl looked up, just a bit to meet his eyes, and smiled softly to him. 'Dheali.'

Gippal stared her straight in the eyes. 'Dheali? Ouin hysa ec Dheali?'

She nodded still smiling. She followed his movements as he stood up. Gippal placed a hand on his forehead and rubbed it slowly.

'What's wrong?' Baralai asked with furrowed brows but his blonde haired friend just shook his head.

'We should leave it at this for today.' He spoke and turned to his friends who all looked confused.

'Why?' asked Paine with narrowed eyes.

The Faction leader hesitated for a moment and looked from Dheali, who was still staring at him with a small smile on her face, to Paine who gave him a suspicious look. 'I just want to be sure of something before we continue,' he said and moved towards the door to open it.

Paine stood up quickly and grabbed him by the wrist. 'What is it that you know?' her eyes stared at him and even though they were red, it was a icy-cold stare that send shivers down Gippals spine, but he remained his composure and cleared his throat.

'I already said, I want to be sure of something…I'll tell you guys in the morning.'

They all left Gippals office one by one, Gippal and the girl named Dheali were the only ones who stayed behind. He waited till everyone was gone and he was sure no one was around his office before he turned back to the girl who was still sitting on the chair, her legs neatly folded under her.

Gippal sighed and scratched the back of his neck. 'Dheali, frana tet oui kad ouin hysa vnus?' ((Dheali, where did you get your name from?))

Dheali turned around and gave him a puzzled look, but he could see her eyes twinkle so he knew that she knew what he was talking about. He walked around the chair she was sitting in and took place on the couch, giving her a stern stare.

She gave him a small smile and tilted her head slightly to the left. 'Fro tu oui ycg?' ((Why do you ask?))

---

**The letter**

Then he came along.

I always thought that he was the one for me.

When I first met him I was only seven, he was eight.

I liked him the first time I saw him.

Not that I 'liked' him liked him.

Not just yet anyway…

I just thought he was kind and funny.

He was, you know.

We became best friends over the years. Always teaming up to tease on my brother, who would yell at us for calling him bayhidpnyeh.

But somehow he always forgave me…never him though, he never forgave him. He blamed him for pushing me into doing things_ he_ wanted.

But Brother…if you're reading this…that time when we hang your chocobo-boxers high up above the door of the cafeteria at Home…that was my idea…not Gippals.

And I'm sorry…

* * *

_This story might be a little confusing here and there. But my whole point is that it's a little vague, and that little bits and pieces become clear in future chapters._

_Please review._


	6. A well known fear

**A/N: **_Took me a while to update, sorry. I don't know where the next update is going to be, but I'll try to update within two weeks._**

* * *

**

**The present**

After the introduction with Dheali everyone retreated to their sleeping quarters. It was already late in the afternoon and everyone wanted to get ready for dinner.

Gippal took Dheali with him and gave her a room next to his so that he could keep an eye on her. Dheali didn't seem to mind, she seemed to follow Gippal around a lot. Gippal didn't seem to mind it, he actually seemed to love the attention he got from the blonde haired girl. Probably because she looked so much like her, not only in the way she looked but in the way she acted most of the time too.

Yuna and Paine were the first two who arrived at the cafeteria out of the entire group. They took their seats at a table nearby a large window with a beautiful scenery of a large rocky mountain that surrounded Djose temple.

'So…what do you think?' Paine said, who leaned with one elbow on the table, her head resting on her hand.

Yuna gave her a questioning look. 'About what?' she asked.

Paine snorted sarcastically. 'What do you think? Dheali of course.'

Yuna gave a nod with her head and turned her eyes towards the window. 'I don't know, she could be…her daughter but…she never told us she was pregnant.'

Paine bit her bottom lip and nodded. 'Yeah I know…but maybe she wasn't pregnant then…maybe she got pregnant when she already ran away.'

Yuna's eyes went wide and she looked back at Paine who gave her a confused look. 'What?' she said with frowned eyebrows.

'What if…what if she ran away 'because' she was pregnant?' Yuna said and studied Paines face to see what her reaction was going to be.

Paine sat up straight and stared her straight in the eyes. 'That could be an option. Perhaps she got scared or something. Maybe she was ashamed of it…'

Yuna nodded. 'Yeah! That could be it! But then…who's the father?'

Paine narrowed her eyes slightly in thought. 'Well, we do know that she's an Al Bhed…so her father must be one too.'

'Great,' Yuna said,' that nails down half of Spira's population.' She sighed sadly and looked down at the dining table.

'She could be half Al Bhed too…although she does have the green swirling eyes and the blonde hair to go with…' Paine said, still in thought.

Yuna looked at her friend with a smirk. 'Could be anyone. But if she ran away then maybe it's someone she's ashamed of.'

'Maybe…it's Gippal.' Paine said pursing her lips.

Yuna though for a moment but then shook her head. 'Can't be Gippal. They were best friends when they were younger, she would've definatly told him about her being pregnant.'

'Yeah but…,' Paine started and looked at the table thoughfully,' I do think Gippal knows more. I mean like…what happened today in the office, what was that all about? He knows something, I'm sure of it.'

Just then the doors of the cafeteria opened and Gippal casually walked in with Dheali following him like a puppy. Tidus and Baralai were behind them, together with the kids.

Tylian walked over to sit next to her mother, patting on the seat beside her for her brother to sit in. But he ignored his sister and sat next to Cary who seated himself on the other side of the table, next to his father.

'Mo-om! Kyran is ignoring me!' Tylian whined and pouted slightly. Kyran rolled his eyes at her but didn't say anything.

Gippal sat on the other side of Yuna, across from Baralai who sat next to Paine.

Dheali seemed to stick to Gippal like glue as she sat beside him as close as possible.

Baralai frowned and looked at Tidus who also seemed to notice it. Gippal on the other hand either didn't notice or he didn't mind it at all. He was smiling like and idiot. 'Well, let's eat!' he said, and everyone agreed.

It was late in the night when a loud thunder roamed outside of Djose temple. Dark clouds covered the night sky, hiding the stars and the moon. Gippal wasn't bothered by it, he was used to the weather around Djose. Besides, he's a deep sleeper anyway. But yet, he lie awake in his king sized bed, staring at the ceiling. Even though if he couldn't see it, because his room was pitch black.

Gippal couldn't sleep because a certain girl who was running around in his head.

'Dheali…,' Gippal mumbled and bit his lip. He knew that name, he knew it because he was the one who came up with it.

Flashback:

'_Hey Gippy?' A young girl around the age of 10 with long blond hair tied back in a ponytail was lying in the shadows of a hover. With her was a boy who also had blonde hair, it was short and spiked up. His eyes were closed as he enjoyed the warmth of the desert sun._

'_Hmn?' _

_The young girl sat up a bit, leaning on her elbows. She tilted her head slightly to the left and looked at her friend from a side. 'If you ever have a kid, what would you name it?' _

_The boy frowned and opened up one eye to look at the girl. 'It?' he said with an amused tone._

_She made a face at him, making him laugh. 'You know what I mean…Well?' _

_The boy sat up as well and pursed his lips. 'I don't know really, never thought about it before.' he looked at her. 'What about you?' _

_The girl grinned and he already knew that she had been thinking about it. He knew that she wanted a lot of kids, so they would all have a lot of brothers and sisters. He figured it was probably because her brother was 7 years older then her and he never really gave her any attention. _

'_I have a lot of names! You wanna hear them?' _

_Gippal chuckled, because he had a certain feeling that he was going to be stuck here for a while. 'Sure, of course.'_

_She took a deep breath and began to sum up the names she thought of. 'Okay, if it's going to be a girl, I like Luka, Dani, Cary, Traime, Tisayna, Sophie, Wepster…'_

'_Wow wow wow…' Gippal interrupted her,' Wepster? What's that?!' _

'_What do you mean what's that? It's a name!' she exclaimed, punching him on the shoulder._

_Gippal chuckled again and shook his head. 'Well, it sucks. Besides, if it 'is' a name, it's more like a boys name if you ask me.'_

_She stuck out her tongue and crossed her arms stubbornly. 'Well I don't care, I like it. So there!' she averted her head to look in the other direction. Gippal just shrugged his shoulders and leaned back on his elbows just like her._

_After a while of silence, she turned back and looked at him curiously. 'Well…'_

_Gippal eyed her and raised his eyebrows. 'Well…what?' _

'_What do you like then, for a girl I mean?' she asked, giving him a grin that made him smile._

_Gippal thought for a moment. 'A girls name, huh?' he mumbled and stared at the sand dunes before them. 'I guess…Dheali. Yeah, I like Dheali.' _

_She looked at him with a blank face, but after a moment a smile appeared. 'Yeah! That's a nice name. I love it! Where'd you get that from?' _

_Gippal smiled slightly and looked at her. 'I don't know, just came up with it really.' _

_The girl tilted her head at him before lying back in the sand. 'Well I like it. Maybe I'll name my first kid Dheali.' _

_Gippal grinned, because he was quite honoured actually. He let his head fall back and closed his eyes again. _

_After another moment of silence she spoke up again. 'Hey Gippy?' _

'_Hmn?' _

_She frowned and rolled over to her side, towards her friend. 'How do you spell it…Dheali?' _

_The boy laughed and patted her on the head, leaving her slight confused._

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on his door. He sat up and frowned, not sure if he heard it right.

Another knock confirmed it and he got up from his bed and walked towards the door, pulling a shirt over his head as he did so, or he would've opened the door in nothing more then his boxers. He opened it, revealing a trembling Dheali in a large T-shirt. The shirt was his, since she didn't have any clothes with her other then what she was wearing when she arrived today at Djose.

'Dheali?' he said with a confused look on his face. What was she doing on his doorstep this late at night. Just then a lightening flashed trough the sky followed by a loud thunder.

Dheali winched and sank through her knees on the ground, covering her ears with her hands.

Gippal recognized this action all too well. All he could do was stare at the girl who was crunching on the ground before him.

'E's cunno, ed'c zicd…' ((I'm sorry, it's just…))

Gippal knew what she wanted to say, so he finished it for her. 'Oui'na clynat uv drihtan, ynah'd oui?' ((You're scared of thunder aren't you?))

The girl looked up trough her bangs and nodded slowly.

Gippal sighed and crouched down so he was some what at eye level with her. 'Lyh'd cmaab?' ((Can't sleep?))

She shook her head as a reply.

Another lightening flash lit the room as the thunder roamed trough the sky shortly afterwards. The girl yelped squeezing her eyes shut. Automatically Gippal wrapped his arms around her small frame and pulled her close to him. 'Ed'c ugyo, tuh'd funno...' ((It's okay, don't worry…)) She nodded against his chest. He moved into a sitting position, leaning with his back against the doorframe, pulling her on his lap.

They sat like that for a while, until he noticed that she was silently sleeping against his chest.

He smiled, content, and decided that it was time to put her back to bed. Not only because it was two in the morning, but also because his back started to hurt from leaning against the doorframe for so long.

He picked the small girl up easily and carefully walked towards the door to her room. After opening it he slowly placed her in bed, pulling the covers over her small frame.

He smiled down on her, removing a string of hair away from her face.

--

**The letter**

I really do hope that you will get to read this, since I'm writing this for all of you guys, not just for the first person that finds this.

There's a reason that I'm writing this story, you know…

A part of that reason is that I want you all to know how I really feel about things…

I never really told anyone my true feelings, I always tried to hide it with my smiles…

Whenever someone told me to be quiet, I just closed my mouth and swallowed in the words I had left to say.

Like that time…Yuna do you remember that time when we were still with the Gullwings. You were crying over him after you saw that sphere of Shuyin, and he called out 'Lenne'.

I knew you were jealous.

Of course you were…

You yelled at the top of your longs on top of the Celsius that night:

'Who the heck is Lenne!'

Remember?

Well…I tried to cheer you up. I told you everything was going to be alright and you didn't have to worry. That I'd find out if that guy was really him.

You told me to go away and leave you alone.

I only tried to help, but you just told me to get lost…

I felt like you slapped me on my cheek.

That's how I felt.

But it's not just that…there's more.

* * *


	7. The beginning of friendship

**A/N: **_This chapter has been betta-read by: **Rikku the bluefirevixon. **She's also a writer here on fanfic, so look her up! She's done a great job on betta-reading this chapter because there were A LOT of mistakes in here O.o. (Thank you again by the way) _

_Well, enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

**The present**

Cary woke up early the following morning. He strolled through the halls of Djose with nothing to do. As he walked down the stairs he heard voices coming from outside. The main doors were wide open, and he could see two figures standing in front of each other, clearly arguing over something. Cary raised his eyebrows and decided to eavesdrop on the conversation.

He quietly walked over to the doors and hid behind the wall, peeking around the corner to see who they were. He didn't exactly recognize the two of them, but he could see that they were Al bhed, due to the clothes that they were wearing. One of the two was bald and clearly in his sixties. The other had short blond hair and looked to be in his mid-thirties. They were bickering over something, but Cary could not quite hear what it was about. They were both speaking in Al bhed and since his Al bhed wasn't all that great, he couldn't understand a word they were saying. But still…he tried.

'Ruf lyh oui cyo dryd vydran! Cra'c ouin knyhttyikrdan!' ((How can you say that father! She's your granddaughter!)) The blond haired guy exclaimed, waving his arms up and down.

The bald man shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. 'Fa tuh'd ghuf dryd, fa tuh'd ghuf fru cra ec.' ((We don't know that, we don't know who she is.))

'Cra'c namydat du ran, E's cina uv ed! Oui lyh'd zicd mayja!' the other replied, losing his temper…if he hadn't already lost it. 'Ed'c dra uhmo mayt fa'ja kud uh ran!' ((She's related to her, I'm sure of it! You can't just leave! It's the only lead we've got on her!))

The bald man gave him a cold stare and started to walk away. 'Oui tu fryd oui fyhd, E's mayjehk,' ((You do what you want, I'm leaving)) he said in a gruff voice.

The younger man stomped his feet on the ground. 'Argh! Tuh'd oui lyna ypuid ran yhosuna?!' he yelled after him. ((Don't you care about her anymore?)) It made the older man stop in his tracks, but he didn't turn around.

'Cra mavd ic y muhk desa yku. E's ujan ed' ((She left a long time ago. I'm over it)) With that he walked away towards an airship that lay about 10 feet away.

'Vydran!' the other yelled after him in a shriek voice. 'Vydran!' ((Father! Father!))

But the old man didn't turn around. He got on his airship, and took off, leaving the other one behind.

Cary bit his lip, he had no idea what was going on or who those two men were. He did recognize the younger guy by face from somewhere, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Plus he understood the word 'Vydran' which means father, so those to are probably related. Also, Cary had a feeling this was about that girl, Dheali. He sighed and wished he had paid better attention in Al bhed class last year.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned around with a yelp. He immediately clasped his hands on his mouth, looking over his shoulder to see if the man who still stood there, heard him. Apparently he didn't, because he was still standing in the same place as a few seconds ago.

Cary sighed and looked at the person before him, who seemed to enjoy the fact that he had scared the living daylights out of Cary.

'Kyran.' Cary growled under his breath. He gave his friend a glare and walked away towards the stairs, where he took a seat on the steps.

Kyran followed him, still laughing. 'Hahaha! You should've seen the look on your face. And I didn't even mean to scare you!' he laughed again, pretending to almost fall over.

'Stop laughing like an idiot.' he said, still agitated.

Kyran held up his hands defensively. 'Whoops, sorry man, didn't know you were so grumpy in the morning.' He put his hands in his pockets and took a seat next to him. 'So, what are you doing up so early?' he asked, checking his watch. It was 7:15 Am, most people were still asleep, since life usually started around 8 here at Djose.

Cary shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. 'I don't know, couldn't sleep. You?'

Kyran pursed his lips and looked around with a bored look on his face. 'Same.'

Cary leaned back, his elbows resting on a step behind him 'So…where's your sis?'

Kyran sighed and looked down at the ground. 'Dad sent her off to talk to that girl we saw yesterday.'

Cary's head shot up. He looked at his friend curiously. 'Really? Wait, your dad is up too?'

'Nah, he told her to do so yesterday evening. Some shit about becoming friends with her to get some info on her life or something, I don't know.'

Cary raised his eyebrows at his friend. 'That was your dad's idea? Doesn't sound like him…'

'No, it's your moms, actually. Yuna said she might like to talk to someone of her own age. It's not a bad idea you know, when you think about it.' Kyran said, nodding his head.

'But she doesn't speak Spiran, the girl I mean.' Cary said as he frowned.

Kyran smirked. 'Yeah, but unlike me, Tylian has paid attention in Al bhed class.'

Cary smirked and stood up from the stairs to start walk back towards the sleeping quarters. Cary smirked, using his hands to push himself to his feet, and started to walk back towards the sleeping quarters

Kyran followed him with a confused look on his face. 'Hey…where are you going?'

--

A knock on her door made Dheali look up from the book she was reading. She had found it on a bookshelf that was above a small desk in her room, and since she was up anyway, she decided to read it. She put the book down and looked at the door with narrowed eyes, not sure if she should answer it.

After a moment of silence she stood up and walked towards the door, opening it slowly.

Tylian stood patiently on the other side, holding a bag of candy in one hand.

'Oac?' ((Yes?)) Dheali said with caution. Tylian and Dheali hadn't really met yet, so neither girl knew what to expect of the other. This made them both a bit nervous and unsure.

'Kuutsunhehk! Fuimt oui mega cusa lyhto?' Tylian asked with the best smile she could manage that (so) early in the mourning. ((Goodmorning! Would you like some candy?))

Dheali raised an eyebrow and checked the clock that hung next to her on a wall. 'Yd 7.30?' ((At 7.30?))

Tylian nodded her head and held up her bag. 'Pacd fyo du cdynd y tyo!' ((Best way to start a day!)) She looked from Dheali to the bag, then back at Dheali, giving her an inviting look.

Dheali bit her lip and looked back to her room, considering her offer. What harm could it do, right?

'Cina, lusa uh eh.' ((Sure, come on in)) She took a step back so Tylian could pass.

The white haired girl stepped forward, but before she walked further into the room she stuck out her hand to introduce herself. 'E's Tylian po dra fyo.' ((I'm Tylian by the way))

'Dheali…bmaycat du saad oui.' ((Dheali…pleased to meet you)) she said back taking Tylian's hand.

Tylian plopped down on the bed, dropping the bag of candy next to her. 'Cu, ruf tu oui mega ed cu vyn rana yd Djose?' ((So, how do you like it so far here at Djose?))

Dheali folded her hands together before her and slowly walked towards the bed to sit next to Tylian. She still had her eyes narrowed, and she studied the short-haired girl's face.

'E muja ed rana.' ((I love it here)) she replied slowly, looking down at the bag of candy. She folded her legs under her and made herself a little more comfortable.

'Famm dryd'c kuut…E tuh'd naymmo…E's ymfyoc punat frahajan E kad rana, frelr ech'd jano uvdah…syopa uhla y oayn…?' ((Well that's good…I don't really…I'm always bored whenever I get here, which isn't very often…maybe once a year…?))

Dheali tilted her head while sucking on her bottom lip, glancing at the bag of candy. 'Cyo...ruf puid dryd lyhto oui bnusecat sa?' ((Say…how bout that candy you promised me?))

Tylian raised her eyebrows and looked at the blond girl. 'Uh, cina, ramb ouincamv.' ((Uh, sure, help yourself))

Dheali grinned and grabbed the bag, opening it immediately, and in matter of seconds she was chewing on her first gummy bear. 'Kisso payn, kuut' ((Gummy bear, good.)) she said and smiled cutely at Tylian, who smiled back at her, grabbing her own candy from the bag.

'Dumt oui ed fyc y kuut fyo du cdynd y tyo.' ((Told you it was a good way to start a day.))

They were silent for a while, both happily eating their candy. Tylian looked at Dheali the corner of her eye and swallowed down a jelly bean. 'Dheali?' she said, catching the attention of the girl next to her. 'Ruf umt yna oui?' ((How old are you?))

Dheali smiled at her. '17, oui?' ((17, you?))

Tylian folded one leg underneath her and grabbed another jelly bean. '15.'

The Al Bhed girl nodded and smiled. Not knowing what else to say, she grabbed herself a gummy bear and placed it happily in her mouth. After another bout of silence of silence, she started bouncing on the bed's mattress, bouncing Tylian up and down with her.

' E caa dra cikyn rekr ryc cdyndat du gelg eh aynmo.' ((I see the sugar high has started to kick in early.)) Tylian said in a monotone voice.

Dheali just giggled and continued bouncing up and down.

Tylian rolled her eyes and placed another bean in her mouth. 'Great.'

The girl stopped and looked at her with amused eyes. 'E ryja y xiacdeuh vun oui.' ((I have a question for you)) she said and gave her a smile.

Tylian raised her eyebrows and nodded, telling her to keep talking.

'Ruf lusa ouin Al Bhed ec drec kuut?' ((How come your Al bhed is so good?))

The white haired girl smiled. 'Palyica E dyga Al Bhed eh clruum.' ((Because I take Al bhed in school))

The other girl narrowed her eyes at her. 'Oh.' she looked straight ahead of her, towards the door that led to the hallway. 'Ouin pnudran lyh'd cbayg Al Bhed.' ((Your brother can't speak Al Bhed.))

Tylian looked up surprised, frowning. 'Ruf't oui ghuf E ryja y pnudran? Tet ra damm oui?' ((How'd you know I have a brother? Did he tell you?))

But Dheali just smiled and put another jelly bean in her mouth.

Just then the door opened and Cary and Kyran walked into the room.

'Hey, what are you two up to?' Kyran said, eying all the candy with a smirk. He walked over to his sister and ruffled her hair.

'Hey! Watch it!' she yelped and punched him in the stomach.

'Oaf.'

Cary shook his head, rolling his eyes. 'Kids.' he mumbled under his breath and sat next to Dheali. 'Hi.' Cary said with a smile.

Dheali turned her head to look at him, giving him a weak smile, but not replying. She scooted over a little closer to Tylian. Cary frowned at her but shrugged it off.

'So, have you asked her any questions yet?' Kyran asked his sister. He sat down on the ground, leaning against a closet only 4 feet away.

Tylian nodded slowly. 'Yeah.'

Cary looked at her with raised eyebrows. 'So…what did you find out?' he said.

Tylian shrugged her shoulders. 'Not much really.'

Her five-minutes-older brother shook his head. 'Like…?' he asked impatiently.

'That's she's 17 and that she loves it here.' his sister replied with a smile.

Cary sighed and Kyran rolled with his eyes.

'What?' Tylian placed her hands on her hips, clearly annoyed with the two boys.

'Ask her more!' her brother ordered her impatiently.

Dheali looked from one to the other with a confused look on her face. She bit her lip and stared at Tylian for help, who nodded understandingly.

'Cunno,' Tylian apologized, nodding towards her brother and Cary,' dra puoc yna paehk yhhuoehk, mega ymfyoc.' ((Sorry, the boys are being annoying, as always))

The blonde-haired girl giggled at that comment, earning looks from the two boys.

'Lusa uh, mad'c ku du dra lyvadaney. Ed'c ymsucd desa vun pnaygvycd.' ((Come on, let's go to the cafeteria. It's almost time for breakfast)) Tylian stood up and gestured to Dheali so she would follow her. The Al bhed girl nodded and stood up as well, following the short haired girl out of the room.

--

It was afternoon before Gippal finally got to his office. He had been so busy watching over Dheali while she was fixing yet another machine. She was very talented, he knew, but yet he was scared to leave her alone, scared that she might run away and destroy all hope in finding_ her_ again. But after a while the other youngsters joined her, and they went out to do whatever kids did these days.

He sighed as he slumped down in his chair. He was exhausted even though he hadn't been doing much today. The pile of documents and files were piling up, and he realized that he had forgotten all about paper day yesterday. The Faction leader groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. 'Better get to work then.' he said to himself and grabbed a pen from his desk.

After about half an hour or so, someone knocked on his door and entered. Gippal looked up and frowned at the woman before him. It was one of his workers, Raislyn. She took a few steps towards his desk and bowed her head. 'Sorry Sir, to disturb you like this, but…'

Gippal placed his pen down on his desk and raised his eyebrows. 'Yes?'

'There's someone here to see you Sir.' she replied and took a step aside. A man stepped up from behind her and greeted Gippal. Gippal narrowed his eyes. It was a tall brown haired man, tanned, with a tattoo on his right upper arm, the symbol of the Kilika blizball team.

There was a deep scar across his left cheek, (it looked like it must've been a pretty nasty) wound. He wore a dark green sleeveless shirt with a pair of brown worn out pants. He had a sword tied on his back.

'You're Gippal?' the man asked in a deep voice.

Gippal leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't know what it was, but he didn't trust the man before him. 'Yeah, who wants to know?'

The man took a step forward and smirked. 'The name's Kahem. I'm looking for something I've lost.' he said, his smirk disappearing. 'Or rather, someone.'

--

**The letter**

Paine…I always looked up to you.

You were my role-model; I wanted to be just like you.

Cool, stable and never scared of anything.

But now I know that that was just a charade.

You were just as scared as any of us, weren't you?

You were just trying to hide it under you're cold attitude and your rude remarks.

I just wanted to be your friend you know…

With the Gullwings I felt like we were.

The three of us, best friends forever.

Oh how wrong I was…

After he came back and the Gullwings stopped, you all went your separate ways. Yunie, you went to live your life with Tidus and finally got your 'happily ever after' ending. And Paine, you finally got those three little words out of the one person you secretly loved, 'I love you'.

So we split up.

And I was left behind with nothing.

I tried to visit Yuna and Tidus as often as I could. Tidus, you were one of my friends too, so that way there would still be three of us, you know.

But I could somehow notice in the way you acted, Yuna, that you didn't always appreciate my visits. Of course it's pretty understandable, at least that's what I realize now. You wanted to be alone with the guy you loved and hadn't seen over two years.

I'm sorry I bothered you.

I just didn't want to be alone the whole time…

* * *

_Review and make me happy!_


	8. Hush, little baby

**A\N: **_I know it's been a very long time, but I hope you are all still with me. I'm very sorry it took me so long, but I was so busy with school (I know, I've said this before) I promise to update faster._

_Alright, before this chapter begins, I want to thank __**Rikku the bluefirevixon **__for betta-reading this chapter. If you're reading this, I owe you a lot! I can't believe how many grammar mistakes I made in this chapter! Luckily she searched them out for me, and I'm really very grateful. If I could, I'd send you a present :)_

_Now, let's begin chapter 8!_**

* * *

**

**The present**

Dheali smiled as she watched the two boys, Cary and Kyran, bicker with each other once again. She didn't understand a word they were saying, but she knew it was probably something unimportant. Tylian had been telling her stories about her brother and Cary. They were friends, but they couldn't pass a day without bickering or arguing with each other.

"I'm telling you man, the Luca Goers are way better then the Besaid Auchors!" Kyran exclaimed, trying to make a point by holding his hands up in the air.

Cary shook his head. "Oh come on! Besaid totally kicked their butt last week! You saw it on sphere screen yourself."

Kyran smirked. "Yeah well, that was just a mistake. Besides! You're just cheering for Besaid because your dad used to play for them." he pointed an accusing finger at his brown haired friend.

Tylian rolled her eyes and looked from the boys to Dheali, who was watching the conversation with a confused look on her face.

"Tuh'd funno ypuid dras. Ed'c zicd puo dymg, drao tu drec ymm dra desa." ((Don't worry about them. It's just boy talk, they do this all the time.)) Tylian explained to her.

Dheali giggled.

The giggle made Kyran look around to see what the cause was, giving his sister a look. "You're not talking about us, now are you?"

Tylian smiled at her brother innocently. "No, what made you say that?" she said in a sweet voice, and blinked her eyes at him.

Kyran shook his head, annoyed. "Whatever."

The was walking back towards Djose temple. They had just come from the Travellers agency down the Moonflow. They had taken a hover ride down there, because Tylian had wanted to go see the pyreflies. And Apparently Dheali had never seen them either, since she had been staring at them with an open mouth. Tylian had asked her if she had been to the Moonflow, but Dheali had just shaken her head.

"Cu, ruf't oui mega dra Moonflow?" ((So, how'd you like the Moonflow?)) Tylian asked the Al bhed girl who walked beside her.

Dheali grinned widely at her and nodded her head. "E mujat ed." ((I loved it)) she responded.

Tylian smiled at the blonde. She was looking so cheerful now. This trip to the Moonflow really did her good.

Upon arriving at Djose temple they were greeted by Baralai. He was sitting on the ground, resting his back against the outdoor wall. "Hey guys, where have you been?" he asked, smiling at all of them. His eyes lingered on Dheali a bit longer, his smile fading a bit. This confused Dheali, and she frowned at the grey haired man.

"We're fine, we just went down to the Moonflow." Kyran replied in a bored voice. He walked up to his father and sat him, one leg pulled up and one arm resting on his knee.

"Really…" Baralai said, his voice trailing off, he seemed to be in thought.

"Yeah dad, now if you don't mind, we're going inside." Tylian said with a quick smile she took Dheali's hand and dragged her into the temple.

Baralai watched them leave and turned back to the boys. Cary was now leaning against the open door.

"So…the Moonflow huh?"

--

Tylian and Dheali walked into the large hall and up the stairs, but were stopped by Gippal who called the young Al bhed girl from the doorway of his office. "Dheali!"

Both Dheali and Tylian stopped dead in her tracks and turned to one another. "E fuhtan fryd ra fyhdc." ((I wonder what he wants)) Tylian mumbled to Dheali, who nodded and narrowed her eyes at the Faction leader.

Dheali walked over to where Gippal was standing but stopped halfway when she saw someone standing behind him.

Gippal took a step aside and let the man pass, so the man came fully into view.

Upon seeing Kahem, Dheali's eyes widened, and she took a step backwards.

"Hello Dheali." he said with a smirk. He had an evil kind of glint in his eyes as he looked at the blonde girl.

Dheali looked from Kahem to Gippal and bit her lip, but didn't say anything.

"What's the matter Dheali, cat got your tongue?" Kahem asked sarcastically, approaching her. Dheali slowly shook her head and stepped backwards again, trying to widen the space between them.

"C...cdyo yfyo." ((S…stay away)) she said with a trembling voice. Her eyes scanned the room for a way to escape. Dheali gave a pleading look to Tylian who was looking back and forth between Kahem and Dheali with confusion.

Gippal narrowed his eyes at Dheali's actions, although he kind of suspected that this would happen. Kahem didn't look like a nice guy. Gippal narrowed his eyes. He had expected something like this to happen, but that didn't make him any more comfortable with the situation.

Kahem narrowed his eyes at Dheali dangerously. "Dheali, oui lusa ujan rana, nekrd huf" ((Dheali, you come over here, right now.)) His voice sounded threatening, and it only made Dheali more scared. She took another step back and shook her head before running out of the main doors.

Kahem growled and clenched his fists. "That girl." he mumbled under his breath and turned to Gippal, his expression quickly changing to a nicer one. "Well, I'll take it from here." he said, giving Gippal a cocky smirk.

Kahem took a step, but Gippal stopped him. "Wait."

Kahem turned around and raised his eyebrows at the one-eyed Al bhed. "What?"

Gippal frowned at the man before him and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're not going after her." he said in a serious voice, one he often used towards his employees.

Kahem raised an eyebrow taking a step towards the Faction leader. "Excuse me?"

Gippal wasn't intimidated by this action; his eye looked darkly at the man who had been kind of rude. "You heard me. I don't know who you are, and if what you said back in there is true, but until I know for sure, you're not allowed within 5 feet near her, as long as she's here." Gippal ordered him, his eye never leaving Kahem's..

Kahem glared at him, clearly losing his temper. His eyes burned holes into Gippal s, but Gippal stood his ground, he had experience with people like this. "You stay here." The Al bhed ordered and he waved to a worker, making him come over.

'Oac Cen?' ((yes Sir?))

"Nikha, stay here and watch over him, make sure he doesn't leave the temple." Gippal told his worker, his eye not leaving Kahem s. The brown haired stranger gave a chuckle and crossed his arms, giving Gippal a smirk.

"What, are you scared I'll run away?" he asked, before leaning in a little closer towards the Al bhed. "Don't worry, I won't."

Tylian watched the whole scene with great confusion. She was torn between running after Dheali and staying here to listen to the conversation. She chose to stay, since she wanted to know more about this man who seemed to scare Dheali so much. Besides, she figured that Dheali wouldn't run away. Plus that Cary, Baralai and Kyran were still outside and they had probably seen her running past them. But it seemed that Gippal and Kahem were done talking, basically because Gippal was now walking towards the main doors. Tylian decided to follow him. With one last glance at the smirking Kahem, she followed Gippal outside.

When Dheali had passed Cary and Kyran just outside the main doors, they had looked at each other with confused looks and silently decided to follow her, leaving Baralai alone at the temple door.

As Gippal passed by Baralai, the gray haired man stood as if expecting some kind of explanation. In a hurry, Gippal looked back to Tylian, who readily offered to explain… or, at least tell her father what she had just witnessed

Gippal left the two behind and picked up a quick pace towards Djose Highroad. He didn't know where Dheali had gone to, but perhaps the people at the hover stop had seen her come run by.

--

Cary and Kyran followed Dheali all the way down to the Moonflow. She jogged the whole way down there and when she finally got to the lake, she sat on the ground under a tree, with her knees pulled up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her forehead on her knees.

The two boys stood from a safe distance away and looked at the girl in confusion.

Cary looked at Kyran with his eyebrows raised. "She looks upset." he mumbled to Kyran.

"Gee Sherlock, you think?" Kyran retorted.

Cary rolled his eyes, shoving an elbow in his friend's ribs, and made a 'shush' sound. "Not so loud." he whispered.

Kyran shrugged his shoulders and shoved his hands in his pants pockets.

Cary didn't pay him any attention and appeared to be deep in thought while he kept his eyes on Dheali, trying to think of a way to make her feel better.

"Say Kyran…how do you say: **'**Are you alright?**'** in Al bhed?"

Kyran shook his head amused. "You were thinking about that this whole time? You really need to pay better attention in school my friend."

"Yes yes, now what's the translation?" Cary asked impatient.

Kyran chuckled. "How should I know? I'm even worse in that subject then you are, remember?"

"I wish Tylian was here."Cary mumbled and scratched the back of his neck.

'E lyh rayn oui dfu, oui ghuf.' ((I can hear you two, you know.))

Both of the boys looked up startled and stared with wide eyes at the blonde girl who was still sitting in the same position.

"Did she just say something?" yran whispered over to Cary.

'Fuimt oui zicd bmayca ku.' ((Would you just go.) Dheali said, not moving an inch.

Cary frowned as he tried to translate what she had had just said.

"What did she say?" Kyran wanted to know, but Cary was still deep in thought.

"Something about…going…"

Kyran pursed his lips and looked from Dheali to Cary. "Going? Is she going somewhere?"

Cary rolled his eyes and placed a hand on his friends shoulder. "No you nitwit, she wants us to go, come on."

The two boys turned around and walked away in a normal pace, leaving Dheali to sit by herself at the Moonflow.

Dheali sighed, for she was relieved that the boys were gone. She didn't want them to see her this way — upset. She looked up slightly so she could watch the pyreflies from over her arms. They seemed to calm her and made her think of a song, or rather a lullaby, she knew from when she was still little. It didn't take long before she started to mumble the words softly.

"Hush, meddma pypo, tuh'd oui lno. Mysy fuh'd ku yfyo." she began to sing, her voice ringing with a sweet melody the words sounding sweet and melodic. 'Yht frah dra suuh femm reta dutyo, sysy ec rana du cdyo.' ((Hush, little baby, don't you cry. Mama won't go away. And when the moon will hide today, mama is here to stay))

Dheali didn't know that Gippal was standing only a few feet away, listening to the song. He stood stock still, emotion gathering in his expression— he knew this song all too well.

--

Flashback:

"_Gippal!" a man who was growing bald called out to a young boy around the age of 14 whom was tinkering on a hover in one of Home's many garages. _

_The young boy looked up and saw the man standing in the doorway. He looked lost and upset. This made Gippal frown; he had never seen him that way before. "What's wrong, Sir?"_

"_Save the formalitie boy." the man said. He was looking around him, like he was searching for something important. "I have a problem."_

_Gippal gave him a confused look, urging him to continue._

"_I lost my daughter." _

_Gippal raised his eyebrows at him and shook his head. "You lost her? She's not an object, you know. She's probably at the oasis or something. That's where she always is when she's not working." Gippal knew the man's daughter very well, for she was his best friend. _

_But the man shook his head, there was something else, he had yet to tell him. "It's serious this time Gippal. Do you happen to know what date it is…?" he said, looking at Gippal with raised eyebrows, as if he'd realize something._

_Gippal frowned and thought for a moment. He didn't really know what date it was because he never really cared. Then reali**z**ation hit him and he looked at the man with wide, shocked eyes. "ou mean…"_

"_Yes." the man nodded. "It's that time of the year again."_

_Gippal placed everything on the ground and made a run for the door."I'll find her!' he yelled back to the old man just before disappearing into the dessert._

_There was a cave somewhere in the Eastern Expanse of the desert that only Gippal and she knew of. It was their cave; they had found it together and when they were little they had always gone there to explore. Nowadays it was just a place to escape to. Gippal had a strong feeling she was in there somewhere._

_He stepped into the cave, immediately feeling the cold thick air. 'Rammu?!' (Hello?!) Gippal called out, but there was no answer. _

_He walked in further until he came to a crossing. He sighed because he had no idea which way to go. He knew where both ways went; he just didn't know which way led to her. _

_Suddenly he stopped and listened. In the damp air of the cave, he thought he could hear someone talking… or rather, singing. It was soft and sad and it made him shiver all over. He listened more closely and realized that the voice came from the left direction, so he took that path and followed the singing voice._

_The more he walked, the more clearly he heard the voice. It was not long before he could make out the words completely. _

"_Hush, meddma pypo, tuh'd oui lno, mysy fuh'd ku yfyo. Yht frah dra suuh femm reta dutyo, sysy ec rana du cdyo."_

_It was a song, or rather a lullaby, he knew very well. It was her lullaby. Her mother always sang it to her when she was little._

_Only two more steps, and she came into view, sitting on one of the large boulders which decorated their surroundings. She was sniffling and singing, clutching an old moogle in her arms._

"_Hey." he said when she stopped singing. She looked up, a little startled, most likely because she had not expected anyone to find her here._

"_H…hi." she said and sniffled again. _

_Gippal sighed and walked towards her, and went to sit beside her, wrapping his arms around her small form. She leaned her head on his shoulder and they sat like that for a while. She started to hum the song again and Gippal rubbed her arms to keep her warm because she was only wearing a tank-top and, even though the desert might be a very hot place, it was very cold inside the cave._

_After the fifth time, she stopped humming and hugged the moogle a little bit tighter. _

"_It's her birthday today, you know." she said softly._

_Gippal smiled sadly and nodded. 'Yeah…I know.' _

--

**The letter**

I never understood why everyone in Spira always thanked you for getting rid of Sin. While us, the guardians helped too.

It was always 'High Summoner Yuna this' 'High Summoner Yuna that'.

Never the guardians… we put our lives at stake to bring you to where you needed to go, it was never 'Thank you guardians of Yuna'.

That's probably why no one ever recognized me when I traveled alone — because they didn't care about me or the others.

When I was with you, Yuna…people always seemed to know who I was, even if they only recognized my face but didn't remember my name.

But without you, they didn't remember either.

And that's what I find weird.

Is it wrong of me to feel that way?

Was I supposed to let you have all the credit?

I did, but that's not the point.

I almost died once when we fought that creepy Seymour guy…for like the fourth time or so.

And then again when we fought Yu Yevon.

So is it wrong of me to want a little appreciation?

I'm sorry if it is…I never meant to feel like this, it just happened.

I realize now…that I have a lot to apologize for.

* * *

_This chapter is the longest I've ever made! Seriously! So I hope you guys like it._

_Leave a review, as always_


	9. Questions

**A/N: **_I wanted to update last night, but couldn't because of some trouble with the documents section. _

_Oh well, it's update now, right?_

_I want to reply to an anonymous reviewer, under the name **Yuri**, so here goes:_

_I would like to thank you for your reviews, I had fun reading them. You're not annoying at all, what makes you say that?_

_Anyways, you were pretty close with a lot of your assumptions, and you even got a couple of them right! Hahaha, it was kind of funny actually. _

_That idea of teenage Rikku going into a time machine, wasn't such a bad idea. Actually, at the very beginning of this story, I sort of wanted to do something like that :P. But I decided against it, now I've got the entire story planned out (in some way), and it doesn't resolve around a Rikku in a time machine, sorry :)._

_Well, thanks again for reviewing, and hopefully till next time :)_

--

_This chapter has been betta-read by** Rikku the bluefirevixon! **Thanks again for correcting my ridiculously many errors. :)_

_I think this chapter has worked out pretty well, doncha think?_

_Now let's got on with the the story, shall we?!_

* * *

**The present**

"Oui'na sudran ymfyoc cyhk dryd cuhk, oui ghuf…" ((You're mother always sang that song, you know…)) Gippal said after Dheali stopped humming the lullaby.

The blonde girl almost jumped up from her seating position. "Fry...! Oh...syh oui clynat sa." ((Wha…! Oh…you scared me.)) Dheali placed one hand over her heart and exhaled slowly. "Tuh'd tu dryd ykyeh, bmayca." ((Don't do that again, please.)) she said with a nervous chuckle.

Gippal laughed slightly and sat beside her under the tree. "Oui kad cdyndmat aycemo?" ((You get startled easily?)) he asked her, and Dheali nodded with a sheepish grin.

Dheali bit her lip and stared over the Moonflow, admiring the reflection of the sun on the water. After a while she turned back to Gippal and noticed that he was staring at her.

Dheali's eyes narrowed just slightly, and she smiled at him. "Fryd tu oui ghuf ypuid so sus?" ((What do you know about my mom?)) she asked. Gippal raised his eyebrows surprised; he hadn't expected Dheali to ask about her mother.

"Fryd tu oui fyhd du ghuf?" ((What do you want to know?))

Dheali smiled softly and stared down at the ground, tilting her head a bit. "Cu oui ghuf drah." ((So you know then.)) she stated.

"Oayr." ((Yeah.))

"Yht dra udranc?" ((And the others?))

Gippal shrugged his shoulders. "E tuh'd ghuf." ((I don't know)) Dheali remained silent and continued to stare at the ground. "Oui muug y mud mega ran." ((You look a lot like her.))

This caught her attention. Dheali looked up from the ground and stared at him with a surprised look on her face. "Oui drehg cu?" ((You think so?)) she asked unbelievingly.

Gippal smiled. "Oac, tavehydmo." ((Yes, definatly)) His answer made Dheali grin broadly, and she stared ahead of her. She wasn't really looking at something, but Gippal could tell by the way her facial expression changed into a softer one, a dreamy one, that she was thinking of her mother.

It was silent for a while, and Gippal took that time to gather up questions he wanted to ask her so badly; questions that had been burning his mind into a pulp for the last few days.

"Dheali, E ryja y mud uv xiacdeuhc E haat yhcfanc duu. E drehg oui ymnayto ghuf fryd drao yna..." ((Dheali, I have a lot of questions I need answers too. I think you already know what they are...))

Dheali's grin faded, and her entire expression changed into a worried one. She fiddled with one of the pouches on her belt. "E ghuf." ((I know.))

Gippal changed his sitting position so he was facing Dheali eye to eyes. "E haat oui du keja sa cusa yhcfanc; lyh oui keja dras du sa?" ((I need you to give me some answers; can you give them to me?))

Dheali bit her lip and hesitated before she spoke. "Famm…ed tabahtc uh dra xiacdeuh." ((Well…it depends on the question.))

Gippal looked at her strangely, wondering what she meant, but he shrugged it of and asked the first question that had been bothering him ever since she left. "Frana ec ouin sudran?" ((Where is your mother?))

Dheali smiled and chuckled. "E ghaf oui fana kuehk du ycg sa dryd." ((I knew you were going to ask me that)) she looked at him from out of the corner of her eyes. Gippal remained silent, he was waiting for his answer. Dheali sighed and looked away. "E lyh'd damm oui." she said softly, she placed her arms on her knees and stared off into the distance. ((I can't tell you))

Gippal shook his head. "Fro hud?" ((Why not?)) he demanded, slightly agitated.

Dheali slowly exhaled and closed her eyes. "E bnusecat." ((I promised)) she said softly, not at all scared of the anger and irritation his voice had held. "E hajan pnayg y bnuseca." ((I never break a promise.))

"E tuh'd ihtancdyht." ((I don't understand)) Gippal said, rubbing his face with his hands.

Dheali just smiled. "E ghuf." ((I know)) She placed a hand on Gippal's shoulder, catching his attention. She gave him a reassuring smile. "Oui'mm veht uid cuuh. Tuh'd funno." ((You'll find out soon. Don't worry))

Gippal frowned at her, but she kept that smile on her face. Eventually he smiled back. How couldn't he? She looked so much like her.

--

_Flashback:_

"_Gippal!" a little girl with bouncing blonde pigtails around the age of 9 yelled. Her voice echoed trough the hall she was walking in. "Gippal!" she yelled again, opening one door that let to a construction room. _

_In it was a young boy, about the same age, he was working on what looked like a small hover. _

_The girl walked in unnoticed and slowly walked up to the boy, who had no idea that she was in the room. He was so caught up in his work he hadn't heard her yell trough the hall, nor heard her come in._

_She was now standing behind him and took a deep breath. "Hiya Gippy!" she yelled her loudest. _

_Gippal jumped up, startled as he was, and hit his head on an extension of the machina in the progress. "Fryd dra ralg! OW!" ((What the heck! OW!)) Gippal winched and shrunk down on his knees while he rubbed his sore head. "Tysh ed." (Damn it.)) he cursed under his breath and slowly looked up at the giggling girl through narrowed eyes. "Tet oui ryja du tu dryd?" ((Did you have to do that?)) Gippal asked with clenched teeth._

_The little girl with the pigtails giggled and nodded her hear childishly. "Oaboab!" ((Yepyep!))_

_Gippal sucked in breath and stood up from his crouching position. "Fro?" ((Why?)) he demanded._

_The girl shrugged and started to bounce up and down. "Palyica ed caasat vihho...Uh...cunno ypuid ouin rayt druikr." ((Because it seemed funny…Uh…sorry about your head though.))_

_She said with a sheepish smile and scratched her cheek with her index finger._

_He sighed and turned back to his work. "Dryd'c ugyo, ed tuach'd rind 'dryd' silr yhosuna." ((That's okay, it doesn't hurt 'that' much anymore.))_

"_Cunno," ((Sorry.)) she repeated again and went to crouch down next to Gippal's broken machina where she watched Gippal work for a while._

"_Frydlry tueh' Kebbo? Frydlry tueh'?" ((Whatcha doin' Gippy? Whatcha doin'?)) she asked him in a childish voice._

_Gippal smirked at her and stepped back from his machina. "E ys piemtehk y ciban vycd rujan!" ((I am building a super fast hover!)) he exclaimed proudly. "Frah ed'c vehecrat, E's kuehk du nyla fedr dryd cdibet Dajun yht caa fru'c vycdan. E's cina E's kuehk du feh." ((When it's finished, I'm going to race with that stupid Dajun and see who's faster. I'm sure I'm going to win.)) he said with a hint of devotion in his voice. His eyes shimmered with determination, and Rikku couldn't help but smile. _

"_Cu, ruf'c ed kuehk drah?" ((So, how's it going then?)) she asked as she started to walk around the machina, sizing it up. _

_The determination on Gippal's face disappeared and was replaced by disappointment. "Hud dryd famm, E lyh'd caas du cdynd ed..." ((Not that well, I can't seem to start it…)) he said sadly and shrugged his shoulders._

_The girl raised her eyebrows and giggled. "Ahhww, tuh'd pa cyt Gippal, E'mm ramb oy uid!" ((Ahhww, don't be sad Gippal, I'll help ya out!)) she exclaimed cheerfully and began examining the work Gippal had been doing before she came in. _

"_Ah! Rana'c ouin bnupmas." ((Ah! Here's your problem.)) she said, getting Gippal's attention. He quickly rushed by her side and looked over her shoulder to see what she was doing. "Caa? Oui vunkud du luhhald druca fenac." ((See? You forgot to connect those wires.)) _

_Gippal nodded his head and when the girl asked him to start the engine; he quickly climbed on his hover and did so._

_The hover started with ease and roared through the chamber. Gippal's face cleared up totally, and when he turned his machina off, he jumped of the hover and gave the little girl a bear hug. "Dryhgc!" ((Thanks!)) _

_She scratched the back of her head sheepishly, her cheeks beat red. "Tuh'd sahdeuh ed Gippy. E'ja kuddy ku huf." ((Don't mention it Gippy. I've got to go now.)) she said, and bounced her way over to the exit._

"_Fyed! Luimt oui ramb sa dusunnuf yc famm?" ((Wait! Could you help me tomorrow as well?))_

_The girl pretended to think it over for a moment, but of course she wanted to help her best friend with his hover project. "Cina! Luihd sa eh!" ((Sure! Count me in!)) she exclaimed, dancing in place._

_Gippal smiled. "Oui bnuseca?' ((You promise?))_

"_Uv luinca," she replied with a grin. "yht E hajan pnayg y bnuseca. Caa oui dusunnuf!" ((Of course, and I never break a promise. See you tomorrow!))_

--

He swallowed away a lump in his throat and sighed. He looked at the girl beside him, who reminded him so much of his childhood friend. He still had a lot of questions, but only one question she needed to answer immediately. "Lyh oui yhcfan drec drah...Fru ec Kahem? ((Can you answer this then…Who is Kahem?))

Dheali turned around and faced him. Gippal could clearly see the fright in her eyes. He grabbed the girl by her shoulders. "E haat du ghuf, Dheali." ((I need to know, Dheali.))

Dheali swallowed and looked down at the ground. It was silent for a while, and Gippal was just about to give up when Dheali started to speak.

"Ra'c cusauha E ghuf vnus frana fa mejat. Ra ufhc y machina cduna. So sus icat du fung eh dryd cduna. Cra ufc res y mud uv suhao. Ra fyhdc sa du fung vun ed. Pid E lyh'd..."

((He's someone I know from where we lived. He owns a machina store. My mom used to work in that store. She owed him a lot of money. He wants me to work for it. But I can't...))

Gippal was so caught up in what she said that he didn't hear her use of past tense.

"Fro hud?" ((Why not?)) Gippal wanted to know.

Dheali sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Palyica E ryt du lusa rana." ((Because I had to come here.))

--

**The letter**

Gippal…

I know this might come to be a bit of a shock to you but…

I've liked you since I was like…ten years old.

I never told you though, never showed you either. Perhaps it was because you always got the attention of girls that were prettier then me and you seemed to like that attention.

You seemed to like pretty girls.

And I didn't feel all that pretty back then.

I don't feel pretty now either…

I never liked to act like a love-sick puppy following you around, drooling all over the place like those girls did. So I just acted normal.

You were my best friend after all.

I am glad though that I kissed you on the day you left for the crimson squad.

And I'm glad I ran into you on that party on Yuna's birthday.

And I'm glad we spent the night together…even though we were both completely drunk.

I am a little sad though…that I woke up that morning alone.

I still wonder where you had gone to, nowadays.

But I guess it wasn't such a big surprise.

You got regrets and decided to leave…right?

Nor was it a big surprise that you never called me either.

Doesn't really matter, I'm glad it happened anyway.

I would never have met her if it hadn't happened.

* * *

_R and R everyone!_


	10. A minor conflict

**A/N: **_Sorry for the long wait, no excuses this time. _

_I would like to thank my betta-reader once again for doing a terrific job! Her username is **Rikku the bluefirevixon**. Look her up if you have time, her stories are great!_

_Anyways, chapter 10 is finally here. It's not the best chapter in the world, but I felt like I needed to write something with all the other characters in it, so this is what came out._

_Enjoy!_

_Oh, and expect the 11th chapter soon! I'm already half-way down._

* * *

**The present**

Baralai and his daughter were already inside the temple when Cary and Tyran arrived. Cary had his hands in his pockets and a somewhat annoyed expression on his face. Tyran, on the other hand, was quite cheerful. He was walking beside his older friend with a bright smile.

Cary didn't understand why the whole 'Dheali thing' didn't bother Tyran, while Cary had been thinking about the situation the whole time. He wanted to know where she came from and why she was here. He wanted to know who she was and why she only spoke Al bhed.

Questions swam around in Cary's head, and he desperately wanted some answers. But Dheali kept pushing him and the twin away, not letting them on to anything. And that bugged Cary…a lot!

Tyran whistled an unknown song as he pushed the temple doors open. There was a large group of people standing in front of Gippal's office. Some of them the boys recognized as their parents. The rest were probably employees.

There was also this one guy who was leaning against the wall next to Gippal's office door with his arms crossed over his chest. He had his eyes closed and his brow furrowed, like he was waiting for something.

Cary stared at the man, he was unable to remove his eyes from him.

Tyran didn't spare the man a second glance and scanned the hall around them. He spotted his twin sister sitting on the stairs. She held her head in her hands, while her elbows leaned on her knees. She looked somewhat upset.

Tyran frowned and walked over to his sister, leaving Cary to stand by himself in the middle of the large hall.

"What's wrong?" Tyran asked in a concerned voice as soon as he was next to Tylian. The two of them didn't get along all that well most of the times, but they did care about each other. Whenever one of them was down, the other was too; it was probably a twin thing.

Tylian looked up from the ground and gave her brother a small pout. "That scar-faced guy over there wants to take Dheali away." she said.

Tyran frowned and looked back at the man who was leaning against the wall. "Why?"

Tylian bit her lip and looked at Kahem as well. "Because he claims to be her father." she replied in a soft voice.

Tyran turned around and faced his sister with wide eyes. "He's what?!"

"Or care-taker. One of the two." Tylian said.

Her brother frowned. "Father and care-taker, those are two very different things. Which one is he?" he wanted to know.

His twin sister shrugged and leaned back slightly. "I don't know. All I've heard is that he came here to take Dheali with him. She lives with him, scar face said."

Tyran gave his sister a sarcastic look. "Tylian…you don't know who he is, do you?"

Tylian grinned sheepishly. "No not really. What I just told you is all I know."

Tyran sighed heavily, whacking his sister over the head. "Then don't go around saying that he's her father if you don't know for sure! Besides, from what I can see from here, he's not even an Al bhed."

"Dheali could be half Al bhed." Cary said. He had walked up on the two just as soon as he realized that Tyran wasn't standing next to him anymore. He overheard their conversation from the point where Tyran got slightly agitated.

Both twins looked up at Cary, contemplating over this new possible option.

"She could be…" Tyran said, with a thoughtful look on his face.

Tylian frowned slightly, staring ahead of her. "Yeah but then…why can't she speak Spiran? Kahem speaks Spiran. If he's her father, then why can't she?" she pursed her lips.

"Kahem?" both boys asked.

Tylian pointed in Kahem's direction. "Scar-face over there."

Both boys nodded in realisation.

"She could be hiding it." Tyran pointed out.

Cary frowned. "Hiding what?" he asked.

Tyran shrugged. "Hiding her Spiran language skills."

Tylian frowned at her twin brother and thought this option over, but then she shook her head. "No, that can't be right, can it? I mean, why would she do that? It doesn't make sense…"

Cary scratched the back of his neck. "Well…maybe we should ask her?"

Tylian shook her head. "She won't answer, I think."

Both boys stared at the floor, knowing it was true. Dheali never told them anything about herself, no matter how hard they had tried.

"It's not like we're close friends or anything…" the twin girl mumbled in a soft tone, barely audible.

Cary closed his eyes and sighed. It was true. They weren't friends. They just met yesterday. You can't become close friends in just one day, right?

"She doesn't trust us enough." Cary said.

They all nodded their heads, knowing that it was the truth.

--

"You're saying that this guy has come to claim Dheali?" Yuna asked Baralai with raised eyebrows.

Baralai and Tidus both nodded. Once Tylian had explained to her father the situation, the praetor went inside to see this man for himself. Shortly after that, Tidus came down and asked Baralai about the scare-faced man, leaning against the wall next to Gippal's office door.

And now it was the turn for the two ladies to get an explanation.

"So, what is he? Her father?" Paine asked with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked over to Kahem with a suspicious look on her face.

Tidus shrugged. "I don't know; we both have no idea who he is."

"We do know that he's from Kilika though, he told us that much." Baralai added after Tidus had answered.

"Kilika, huh?" Paine said, narrowing her eyes. "That explains the weird tattoo."

Kahem's head shot up, and he gave her a mean glare shot. Paine just smirked devilishly.

"Weird tattoo huh? Why don't you take a look in the mirror and see something else what's weird…" Kahem replied with an angry voice and his fist clenched.

Paine almost choked from laughing. She hadn't expected to get such a comment from Kahem. Apparently he was a very tempered person.

Yuna shook her head and bowed. "I'm sorry for my friend's insult." she said, giving Kahem a small smile.

"Yuna, don't apologize to the guy!" Tidus exclaimed, making a dismissive gesture with his hand. "We don't even know who he is; he could be some weird psycho out to kill Dheali for all we know!"

Kahem cleared his throat. "I can hear you, you know…I'm standing right next to you."

Tidus blinked and started to laugh nervously. "Oh…right…ehehe." he replied, scratching the back of his neck.

"I'm not some weird psycho killer, I can assure you that." Kahem said gruffly, an annoyed tone in his voice.

"Who are you then?" Paine demanded, giving him a cold glare that would even send shivers down Sin's spine.

"I'm not her father, if that's what you mean." Kahem replied, unblinking.

Paine narrowed her eyes. "Oh really, who is then?"

Kahem chuckled, causing everyone to give him a surprised stare. The stranger shrugged his shoulders, still with an amused look on his face. "How the hell should I know?! Her mom slept around with fayth knows who, so it could be anyone." he had this weird glint in his eyes when he said that, but that was soon driven away when Paine angrily grabbed him by his collar.

"What did you say?" she hissed dangerously.

Kahem hadn't expected that to happen. He stood there in shock for a moment before that same annoying smirk returned to his face. "You heard me." He stared down at the warrior with large eyes.

Paine would've thrown him against the wall if it hadn't been for Baralai putting his hands on her shoulder to hold her back.

Yuna, in the meantime, had ben watching Kahem carefully. She had seen the glint he had in his eyes as soon as he said that about _her,_ a glint she knew meant something entirely the opposite. So what he just told them couldn't be true. Besides, she knew _her _all to well, well enough to know she wouldn't do something like that.

Paine had released Kahem and was now being held by Baralai, who was still trying to make sure she wouldn't throw a punch at the stranger.

"So, you have no idea who's her father then?" Tidus asked, looking rather pissed off himself.

Kahem had already positioned himself back against the wall.

"That's right." Kahem said, his eyes shadowed by his bangs. "I met _her_ when Dheali was already a toddler." he replied.

Yuna tilted her head and narrowed her eyes slightly. "When was that?"

Kahem looked at her, raising his eyebrows. "When?"

The ex high-summoner nodded. "Yes, how many years ago?"

"I don't know." Kahem said, raising his hands up and shaking his head. "What do you think I am, a walking calendar? I don't keep track of the years, babe."

Tidus took a step towards Kahem and stared at him dangerously. "What did you say to her?"

"Tidus." Baralai said in a warning tone. He had already released his wife, and was ready to restrain Tidus, if necessary.

Now that Paine was free, she stepped up again. "Give us a rough guess." she said, giving Kahem a warning glare that he'd better not make something up.

Kahem sighed, clearly getting irritated with the whole situation. "Alright." he said angrily, counting back the years in his head. "Probably about…15 years ago?"

"15 years," Yuna mumbled," how old was Dheali again?"

Paine thought for a moment before replying. "She's 17, almost 18 I think…that makes her 2 when they met Kahem…"

Yuna's eyes grew wide as she counted up the figures. "18 years…_she _ran away 18 years ago."

Paine nodded her head. "She was probably pregnant when she left."

"So do you think that…that's the reason why she ran away?" Yuna mumbled softly.

**---**

**The letter**

She changed my life.

And she is also a big part of the reason why I decided to leave.

Of course it was a problem though.

I wasn't sure if I was capable of raising her properly…the right way.

The only example I ever had was my dad and he's definatly not the best example in Spira. Sorry pops.

You were just…never there.

I wished, so badly, that my mom would magically appear and help me out back then. She would've known what to do.

I don't remember much about her though…just little things…very little things.

Like her smile…

And her voice…

She died when I was like 3…maybe 4 years old.

But it turned out alright.

She has grown so much, you should see her.

She reminds me of myself when I was her age.

I'm not so young anymore, getting older and older.

I even detected a couple of grey hairs here and there.

Pulled them out the minute I saw them, ghehe.

But I guess we're all getting older.

That's how life goes.

* * *

_Read and Review please _


	11. Private talk

**A/N: **_I've been sick for these last two weeks, but luckily the doctor gave me some medication and I'm almost better now, yay! I was able to write this chapter and I'm glad how it came out. Mostly of course because of the doings of my betta-reader **Rikku the bluefirevixon**__.She did a great job once again:) _

_I wont be able to write and/or update next week, because I'm going on some kind of vacation with my mother. _

_And I must also inform you that this story is nearing it's end. Four more chapters will follow and then it's finished, finally:)_

_Well, enjoy this chapter!_

_

* * *

_

_Flashback: _

_"Hey! Where are you going?" Yuna called out to a blond Al bhed woman who was running towards the beach of Besaid. The Al bhed stopped, but didn't turn around. _

_"Away." she said softly, but loud enough for Yuna to hear. _

_Yuna frowned, not understanding why she was acting this way. Usually she was always so cheerful, but lately she had been kind of down, not that she saw her very often nowadays. _

_"Why? You can stay here on Besaid if you want. You don't have to leave." Yuna said, slowly approaching her. _

_The blonde looked over her shoulder towards Yuna who was now only a few feet away. "Yes I do." she said, in a voice that Yuna didn't recognize. She had never seen her this way, even though Yuna knew her very well. They were close friends, or so Yuna thought. Now it seemed as if her friend wasn't being herself. _

_"I don't understand." Yuna said with confused eyes. She reached out her hand to touch the blonde's shoulder, who stepped away before Yuna was able to reach her. _

_"You don't have to. I need to go, for myself." she replied and gave Yuna a soft somewhat sad smile. _

_Yuna bit her lip and studied her friend's face. "I don't understand." she mumbled and tilted her head to the left. "Where are you going then?" _

_The blonde woman shrugged and looked away from Yuna towards the beach. "I don't know yet. I'll know when I'm there." _

_Yuna nodded and smiled. "You're going travelling again." The ex high-summoner could never see her friend tied down in one place. Travelling was something her friend loved, _ _Yuna knew. So there still was something of the old her Yuna knew so well. _

_"Alright then," Yuna replied," have fun!" She waved shortly at the blonde, who just stared at Yuna with a blank expression. _

_"I see…thank you." the Al bhed female said, looking down at the ground. _

_"Call me when you get there, okay?" Yuna said in a cheerful tone\. She figured her friend was probably upset about leaving and needed some encouragement, so Yuna thought that if she would act cheerful and supported her about this, her friend would eventually become cheerful too. But that didn't happen. _

_The Al bhed still stared blankly at Yuna. "You could just ask me how I am…" the Al bhed woman whispered softly. But Yuna didn't hear her; she just continued on smiling. _

_The blonde shook her head before smiling a small smile. "Goodbye Yuna." she said as she turned around and ran away. _

_As the Al bhed slowly disappeared from view, Yuna didn't realize that her best friend had just said her final goodbye's to her. _

**The present **

That was the last time Yuna had seen or heard from her.

She never called…

Yuna never figured out why she ran away…

Until now.

"She was pregnant…that's why she left." Yuna mumbled, catching the attention of her husband, Paine and Baralai. "She was scared…I think."

Paine pursed her lips and looked at the ground in thought. "Well…" she replied after a while," let's talk about this when Gippal gets back with Dheali."

Yuna sighed sadly and nodded.

--

Dheali and Gippal were took a long time getting back to the temple. It wasn't much to Gippals doing. It was Dheali who seemed to hesitate by every step that she took.

Gippal noticed this but decided not to act upon it.

"E hajan druikrd ra't vummuf sa rana, oui ghuf." ((I never thought he'd follow me here, you know.)) Dheali said after a moment of silence.

Gippal looked at the small blond from out of the corner of his eye. He knew she was talking about Kahem, but still he wanted to hear her say it. "Fru? " ((Who?))

Dheali looked at Gippal with a frown. "Kahem." she mumbled and averted her eyes to the ground.

Gippal chewed on the inside of his cheek. He knew Dheali was scared of him, but he still didn't know why. It couldn't just be that _she _owed him money, right? _She_ was always able to take care of herself, so in a way…it didn't make sense.

"Dheali, tet cusadrehk rybbah padfaah oui yht Kahem, un padfaah ouin sudran yht Kahem?" ((Dheali, did something happen between you and Kahem, or between your mother and Kahem?)) Gippal asked with caution.

Dheali stopped walking and clenched her fists tightly. When she didn't respond, Gippal became worried and placed a gloved hand on her small shoulder.

Dheali shook her head and looked the other way. "E's hud cibbucat du damm oui," ((I'm not supposed to tell you.)) She told him." E's cunno " ((I'm sorry.))

Gippal shook his head; he didn't know what to do with this girl. Sometimes he had this urge to grab her by the shoulders and shake her as long as it took him to make her spill the story. He wanted to know so badly what had happened to _her_, but the one person who had a connection with _her_ wasn't allowed to tell anything.

"Why?" Gippal whispered in Spiran.

Dheali turned around and faced Gippal with sad green eyes. Those eyes told him that she wanted to tell him so badly, but something was holding her back.

"Lusa uh, mad'c kad pylg du dra dasbma. " ((Come on, let's get back to the temple.)) Gippal said, giving up. If she didn't want to tell him, then he wouldn't force her.

Dheali nodded and gave him a small smile. "Ymnekrd " ((Alright.))

The two of them resumed their trip. The temple was only a few minutes walk away.

--

They got to the temple in no time, but when Gippal opened the doors for Dheali to go inside, she shook her head and took a step back.

"E's hud kuehk ehceta yc muhk yc ra'c drana. " ((I'm not going inside as long as he's there.)) she said and bit her lip.

Gippal scratched the back of his head. "Muug Dheali, fa ryja du cund drec uid. Dno muugehk yd drec cediydeuh vnus uin bucedeuh. Fa ryja hu etay fryd'c kuehk uh!" ((Look Dheali, we have to sort this out. Try looking at this situation from our position. We have no idea what's going on!))) he exclaimed.

Dheali pursed her lips and slowly nodded. "Cunno." ((Sorry.)) she mumbled," E zicd lyh'd ku ehceta frah ra'c cdemm drana. Ra'c syt yd sa..." ((I just can't go inside when he's still there. He's mad at me...)) She looked scared and it only made Gippal wonder more about what had happened between her and Kahem…and her mother.

"Drah cdyo lmuca du sa, ugyo? E'mm syga cina ra fuh'd rind oui." ((Then stay close to me, okay? I'll make sure he won't hurt you.)) Gippal offered as he stuck out his hand.

Dheali looked at his outstretched hand and hesitated for a moment. She studied Gippal's face, wondering if she could trust him. She supposed he looked sincere enough.

Dheali stared down at her feet in a somewhat defeated manor. "Ugyo." ((Okay.)) she said softly, and placed her hand in his.

Gippal smiled brightly and together they walked into the temple.

Tylian looked up when she heard the door open and watched with curious eyes as Gippal

and Dheali walked in. Her brother was seated next to her, but he wasn't paying attention to the door. Cary didn't seem to notice the two newcomers either.

Tylian stood up from her position and walked over to the two Al bhed's.

"Rao Dheali!" ((Hey Dheali!)) she called out to the Al bhed girl.

Dheali looked up and smiled, but didn't stand still. She was being pulled forward by Gippal, ho was leading her towards the group of people in front of his office.

Tylian started to job to catch up with them and walked beside Dheali. "Ruf yna oui?" ((How are you?)) she asked. The last time she'd seen Dheali, she had run out of the temple doors after the encounter with Kahem. She had been upset, and Tylian had not been able to follow her.

"E's veha. " ((I'm fine.)) Dheali said with a smile, but as soon as her eyes fell upon the scar-faced man who was with the group they were nearing, her face fell. She quickly looked away as soon as Kahem's eyes fell upon her.

Tylian noticed this and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Tuh'd funno, ajanodrehk femm pa zicd veha." ((Don't worry, everything will be just fine.)) she said, and gave Dheali a reassuring smile, even though she wasn't so sure herself.

"Gippal!" Tidus called out as soon as he saw the Machine Faction leader coming their way.

"Everything alright?" he asked with his eyes on Dheali.

Gippal nodded and went to stand beside him, Dheali and Tylian by his side. "Yeah, we sorted things out…kind of." Gippal gave Kahem a glare.

Kahem rolled his eyes and pushed himself of the wall. "Look, can we talk this thing through? I have to get back home. I do have a shop to run you know." he said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Then why don't you just go." Gippal said with one eyebrow raised.

Kahem smirked and took a step towards him and the two young girls. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Yuna stepped between the two of them, holding up her hands. "Wait you guys." she turned to Kahem. "What kind of shop?" she asked, probably trying to lower the tension.

"A machina-repair shop." he said and smirked at Gippal who had raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Yep, you Al bhed aren't the only ones good with machina you know." he pointed towards Dheali. "She works in my shop and I'm sort of her care-taker; so, if you don't mind, I'd like to take her home with me."

Gippal narrowed his eye. "I don't think so, sorry."

"She doesn't want to come with you!" Tylian said in an angry voice as she dangerously took a step forward.

"Tylian." her father said in a warning tone.

Kahem looked down at Tylian surprised before breaking into a loud laughter. "Well well, just as feisty as your mother I see." he said chortled, nodding his head towards Paine.

Tylian clenched her jaws together angrily and would have jumped on the man had it not been for her brother to come over to calm her down.

"He's not worth it Tylian." her twin said as he gave the scar-faced man an ice cold glare.

Dheali looked down at the ground during the whole scene. She never wanted to cause any trouble by coming here.

"Look…" Kahem said, holding out his hands," let me just talk to Dheali, in private? Okay?" he looked at a suspicious Gippal. "Just for a few minutes. I'll go after that, alright?"

Dheali gave Gippal a confused look.

Gippal pursed his lips. A talk couldn't hurt, right? Besides, everyone would be right here waiting outside, and if Kahem managed to persuade Dheali to come with him, Gippal wouldn't allow it anyway.

"Dheali has to agree with it." Gippal said. He turned to the small girl and placed a gloved hand on her left shoulder.

"Kahem fuimt mega y bnejyda dymg fedr oui. Ev oui tu dryd, drah ra'mm mayja. Ugyo?" ((Kahem would like a private talk with you. If you do that, then he'll leave. Okay?))

Dheali frowned and looked at Kahem. She tilted her head slightly to the left. "E's hud kuehk pylg." ((I'm not going back.)) she said resolutely, looking Kahem directly in the eyes.

Kahem smirked but didn't reply. Instead he beckoned towards the office door.

She nodded her head and followed him. With one last glance towards the group she entered Gippals office.

As soon as the door closed Baralai worriedly turned to Gippal. "Do you really think this was such a good idea?"

Gippal shook his head slowly. "No, not really."

--

As soon as the door of the office closed behind Dheali, Kahem grabbed her by her wrist and shoved her against the wall.

She hit the wall hard and cursed under her breath. Dheali knew this would happen.

Kahem moved in dangerously close and placed his hands on either side of her head. "Oui'na kuehk du damm sa NEKRD HUF frana ouin sudran ret ed." ((You're going to tell me RIGHT NOW where your mother hid it.)) he whispered angrily. His eyes burning holes into hers.

**The letter **

****

It's funny, you know...

How people can change, not only in personality but also in appearance

I must've changed a lot

I still don't get how you guys never found me though

I'm glad that you didn't, but still…

It isn't like I disappeared off the face of Spira

I'm still here…

I saw Paine once, in the bakery nearby

Paine, you were standing right in front of me, but still you didn't recognize who I was

This might sound very accusing, but how can you not recognize your (best) friend?

One that has been gone for…how long was it then…I think 5 years?

You even helped me when I dropped my bag of apples

You looked straight into my eyes.

That's when I thought I was busted,

But you just said your goodbyes.

I really don't understand…

Didn't you want to see that I was right in front of you?

I guess I really did change a lot, huh?

Perhaps I look a lot more mature then I did back then.

* * *

_You know the drill._


	12. Inside Gippal's office

**A/N: **_There's a lot of tension in this chapter! It's a make up for the crappy one from last time._

_Secrets are revieled and new questions will arise._

_A special thanks for my betta-reader **Rikku the bluefirevixon** who does a great job at betta-reading my chapters!_

_Have fun reading!_

* * *

_Kahem moved in dangerously close and placed his hands on either side of her head. "Oui'na kuehk du damm sa NEKRD HUF frana oui'na sudran ret ed." ((You're going to tell me RIGHT NOW where you're mother hid it.)) he said angrily. His eyes burned holes into hers._

**The present**

Dheali looked away from Kahem's angry eyes, but Kahem grabbed her by her jaw and forced her to face him. "Dheali…" he hissed in a warning tone.

Dheali swallowed away a lump in her throat and shrugged her shoulders. "E tuh'd ghuf, fro tuh'd oui ycg ran ouincamv?" ((I don't know, why don't you ask her yourself?)) she asked, hurt written all over her face.

Kahem's face turned into a bright color of red and he smacked her across the cheek.

Dheali fell to the ground and bit her lip in pain. She looked up at Kahem, glaring daggers at him while rubbing her sore cheek

"Oui ghuf jano famm dryd E lyh'd ycg ran." ((You know very well that I can't ask her.)) Kahem growled, yanking the girl up by her arm.

Dheali winched and stared at the exit door, hoping that someone out there could hear the commotion. But the walls seemed pretty thick and so did the door. Maybe if she screamed, they'd come running…?

"E ghuf ouin sudran dumt oui ajanodrehk." ((I know your mother told you everything,)) Kahem said in a normal tone.

He had calmed down a bit, but was once again pinning Dheali to the wall. "E ghuf dryd'c fro oui mavd Kilika. Ev oui damm sa huf, E'mm mayja oui ymuha. Ev oui tuh'd…oui'mm civvan dra cysa vyda yc ouin sudran." ((I know that's why you left Kilika. If you tell me now, I'll leave you alone. If you don't…you'll suffer the same fate as your mother.)) he said, softly stroking her hair. "Yht fa tuh'd fyhd dryd, huf tu fa?" ((And we don't want that, now do we?)) he asked her, his mouth curving into an amused smirk.

Dheali hated that smirk. She would give anything to just punch it from his face. But right now, she was in no position to do so. "E tuh'd ghuf, ugyo…cra hajan dumt sa frana cra ret dra cbrana." ((I don't know, okay…she never told me where she hid the sphere.))

Kahem took a sharp breath. "Ur naymmo." ((Oh really.)) he mumbled, losing his patience.

Dheali nodded. "Oayr, yht ev cra ryt dumt sa, E fuimt hajan damm oui yhofyo ! Oui'na hudrehk pid y vemdro dreav! Oui tacanja du pa eh zyem. Un funca!" ((Yeah, and if she had told me, I would never tell you anyway! You're nothing but a filthy thief! You deserve to be in jail. Or worse!)) she exclaimed. Dheali knew it would tick him off, and once again she felt a sharp pain, on her other cheek this time. But because he held a firm grip on her arm, she wasn't able to fall down.

He grabbed her arm tighter and Dheali had the feeling he was cutting off her circulation. Kahem was way stronger than her, and she was starting to panic.

"E luimt clnays nekrd huf, yht ajanouha uidceta fuimt pincd eh yht cdub oui, oui ghuf." ((I could scream right now, and everyone outside would burst in and stop you, you know.)) she spat, giving him a piercing glare.

Kahem just laughed devilishly. "Ur oayr, dryd'c nekrd. Drah damm sa drec…Fryd fuimt rybbah ev E dumt dras dryd oui gemmat ran, huh?" ((Oh yeah, that's right. Then tell me this…What would happen if I told them that you killed her, huh?))

Dheali's face went pale. "E…E teth'd…oui…" ((I…I didn't…you…)) she stammered and looked down at the ground. She felt tears stinging her eyes, so she closed them to hide away the fact that she was seconds away from crying. "E teth'd." ((I didn't.)) she whispered.

Kahem loosened the grip on her arm a bit. "Oui tet, yht oui ghuf ed." ((You did, and you know it.)) he said with an evil smirk. "Oui gemmat ran. Ymm cra ajan fyhdat du tu fyc du bnudald oui, yht ruf tet oui dryhg ran? Po gemmehk ran." ((You killed her. All she ever wanted to do was to protect you, and how did you thank her? By killing her.)) he said, watching how the girl began to cry softly.

He laughed and slammed her against the wall again. "Huf damm sa frana dryd cbrana ec, un E'mm damm ajanouha fryd oui tet. E HAAT dryd cbrana, Dheali…" ((Now tell me where that sphere is, or I'll tell everyone what you did. I NEED that sphere, Dheali…)) his voice growled.

Dheali shook her head, but not as fiercely as she would have before. "Hu." ((No.)) she said, softly sniffling. "E…dumt oui…E tuh'd…ghuf." ((I…told you…I don't…know.))

The answer didn't satisfy Kahem. He grabbed her by her throat. Dheali widened her eyes in shock, and she grabbed his arm with her free hand, trying to loosen his grip. "Veha." ((Fine.)) he spat. "Drah oui'na lusehk rusa fedr sa, yht fa'mm dymg drana." ((Then you're coming home with me, and we'll talk there.)) His face leaned in dangerously close to hers. She could feel his hot breath on her face, and she had a hard time hiding her disgust.

She could barely shake her head, but she did. She wasn't going home with him, Dheali wanted to stay here at Djose. Where it was safe…

"Oac oui femm" ((Yes you will.)) Kahem said, leaning his forehead against hers. "Oac oui femm" ((Yes you will.))

Dheali tried to shake her head again, but Kahem held her tightly by her throat, too tightly. She could barely breathe and she was desperately gasping for air.

"B…bmayca." ((P…please.)) she managed to whisper. "Tuh'd…E…" ((Don't…I…))

"Tuh'd fryd? Oui ghuf E luimt gemm oui nekrd rana, E tuh'd seht. E'mm bnupypmo ku du bnecuh yhofyo, ev cusauha ajan vehtc dryd cbrana." ((Don't what? You know I could kill you right here; I don't mind. I'll probably go to prison anyway, if someone ever finds that sphere.)) Kahem said nonchalantly, not removing his hand.

--

Outside the office, everyone was oblivious to what was going on. Gippal was pacing, making everyone nervous. Sometimes he would stop and stare at the door, but it remained closed.

"Maybe we should check things out." Tidus said with his arms crossed. He didn't have a good feeling about this whole 'private talk' either.

Paine looked at the door, the worry clearly visible on her expression. Tylian grabbed her mothers arm. "Mom…do you think Dheali is alright?" she asked, with a little bit of hope in her voice.

Paine shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "I don't know…"

--

Dheali was struggling to remove Kahem's hand, but every time she resisted he pushed her against the wall tighter. Dheali knew she had to do something or she would faint. She closed her eyes and kicked out fiercely. Dheali had no idea where she had hit him, but by the way he was sucking in breath and removing his hand from her throat to rub his groin, Dheali knew she had hit the jackpot.

Dheali fell to the ground and placed a hand on her throat, gasping in air as if her life depended on it. "Ramb." ((Help.)) she managed to choke out, but it wasn't loud enough. Dheali stood up and shakily walked towards the door. "Ramb!" ((Help!)) she said again, this time a little louder.

When she was about to grab the doorknob, Kahem grabbed her from behind and placed one hand over her mouth, while the other was wrapped firmly around her upper body and arms. Dheali started kicking with her feet in the air placing both feet on the door and pushing herself off, making Kahem stumble backwards. He fell on his back, with Dheali on top of him. His hand fell from her mouth.

"Ramb! Yhouha!" ((Help! Anyone!)) Dheali screamed. "Ramb vydran! Bmayca!" ((Help father! Please!)) she yelled and made a run for the door.

Just then the door opened, and Gippal stormed in with a panicked look on his face. Dheali flew right into him and wrapped her arms firmly around his waist.

"E's cu cunno. E's cu cu cunno vydran. Bmayca vunkeja sa, E's cunno. E's cu cunno." ((I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry father. Please forgive me, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.)) she cried and buried her face in his chest.

Gippal looked down at the upset girl, confused, and placed both his arms around her, stroking her back. Did she just say father to him? Gippal knew this wasn't the time to be surprised or rather shocked. Did she really just say father to him?

"Ed'c ugyo, ssshh, ed'c ymnekrd" ((It's okay, ssshh, it's alright.)) Gippal mumbled softly. It was then that Gippal noticed the large bruise forming on her right arm. He frowned, placing both hands on her shoulders to gently push her off of him so he could look at her more closely. His eyes widened at what he saw.

Both her cheeks were red and blue, as if she had hit something. Her throat looked sore and was bright red; it would probably become a bruise as well.

Gippal took one look her and dashed across the room to grab the scar-faced man by his collar. Gippal slammed Kahem to the wall and brought back his fist to punch him in his face.

Baralai and Tidus ran in and grabbed his arm to hold him back. "Gippal! He's not worth it." Baralai exclaimed, trying to calm his friend down.

Dheali had fallen to her knees and was now crying uncontrollably. Yuna came in and wrapped her arms around the crying girl. "It's okay, don't worry. Everything will be alright." she spoke in such a comforting voice only Yuna could muster. Even though Dheali couldn't understand her, it helped somewhat to stop the flow of tears.

Dheali wanted to say something, but Yuna shushed her. According to Yuna, it was important that the Al bhed girl calmed down first.

The teenagers watched the entire scene through the opening left by the widely ajar door.

"Should we do something?" Kyran whispered over to his sister, who was holding his arm tightly.

Tylian shrugged. "I don't know…" she turned to Cary and gave him a questioning look.

Cary sighed. "Why do they always ask the oldest?" he wondered. He looked over to where his mom was hugging Dheali, and he felt a sting of jealously in his heart. Cary couldn't understand why though; he had never really felt close to his mother ever since he had become a teenager. The boy looked down at the ground and shook his head. "We can't do anything but watch." he said.

**The letter**

I want her to have a normal life.

And here with me, she can't have that…

Not with _him_ around.

He's a big jerk that loves to tease us a lot.

He doesn't really like the Al bhed all that much, even though he speaks our language and is half Al bhed himself.

We met when I was only living here for about two years…or three perhaps?

She was only a little child, and he loved to scare her

Telling her that monsters were out to get her

Or out to get me…

We were always fighting with each other about the way he treated her

Treated us…

But I couldn't leave.

I had no where else to go.

I decided to stay until I had enough money to go and buy our own house

You see, we lived with him.

And I worked for him.

It wasn't a good job, but it was a job none the less.

* * *

_Review please!_


	13. What now?

**A/N: **_Finally, the long awaited chapter! _

_A special thanks to** Rikku the bluefirevixon**, who betta-read this chapter._

_I got my laptop back about a week or so ago and I started writing immediatly. I'm hoping on finnishing this story within a month. I've just started school and I have a very busy year coming up._

_This chapter is quite long, 6 pages! _

_So have fun reading!_

* * *

**The present**

After the whole Dheali and Kahem incident, the young scared Al bhed teen was brought back to her room. She was absolutely exhausted from all the emotions she had experienced and she had collapsed on her bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

Gippal had ordered everyone to leave Dheali alone until she woke up. No one was allowed within 5 feet of her door. If someone tried to cross that boundary; they would have to suffer the consequence.

Two of Gippals workers had escorted Kahem to a temporary cell. Although it was more like a broom closet with all the equipment taken out, than a cell. Someone was standing outside of the closet, guarding the door just in case Kahem was able to pick the lock.

Baralai had called Bevelle to ask if they had any information, or a criminal record about Kahem. Even though Dheali hadn't told them anything, they were all pretty sure Kahem was bad news, and not just only because he had beaten up the poor young Al bhed girl.

Gippal had also retreated to his room. He was seated on a large armchair located in one of the corners in his room near a window. He had been staring at a picture of him and his best friend, taken when they were kids. Gippal sighed and grabbed the picture with his now ungloved hands. He had carelessly thrown his gloves on the bed when he entered the room a while ago. With his thumb he rubbed over the glass, carefully tracing the lines of both his and her face. It seemed like centuries ago that the picture was taken- so much had happened between then and now.

"_Drana ec hu fyo E's maddehk oui bruduknybr sa, setkad." (( There is no way I'm letting you photograph me, midget.)) A Gippal of 11 years old said with his arms crossed over his chest. He stared down at a girl who was at least a head shorter then him. She was holding a camsphere in her hands and looking up at him with pleading eyes, a pout forming on her lips. _

"_E's hud y setkad! Tyt cyet dryd dryd cusa baubma kad y knufdr cbind frah drao kad umtan!"((I'm not a midget! Dad said that that some people get a growth spurt when they get older!)) she yelled out in her defense. _

_Gippal__ laughed and ruffled her hair. "Oayr nekrd, mega dryd'mm rybbah." ((Yeah right, like that'll happen.)) He looked at the agitated girl in amusement._

"_Oui pek sayhea!" ((You big meanie!)) she snapped and kicked him in the shin, hard. _

_Gippal yel__ped and dove down to grab his aching shin with both hands. "Ouch!" he yelled, rubbing the sore spot. He looked up at her angrily. "Fryd't oui tu dryd vun!" ((What'd you do that for!))_

_The girl grinned sheepishly and sc__ratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "Ehehe...E teth'd sayh du gelg oui cu rynt, cunno." ((Ehehe...I didn't mean to kick you so hard, sorry.)) she said apologetically. _

_Gippal sig__hed and slowly stood up again. "Ed'c ugyo." ((It's okay.)) he said. He could never understand why he couldn't stay mad at her for long. "Fro tu oui fyhd y beldina uv sa yhofyo?" ((Why do you want a picture of me anyway)) he said shaking his head. Suddenly his eyes went wide and a smirk crossed his lips. "Fyed y caluht…" ((Wait a second…)) he said devilishly, his eyes darkening. She looked at him strangely, and awaited what he had to say._

"_Oui mega sa tuh'd oui?" ((You like me don't you?)) he said, still with that same cocky smirk on his face. "Oui fyhd so beldina vun ouin Kebbym crneha. Fyhd sa du yiduknybr ed vun oui duu?" ((You want my picture for your Gippal shrine. Want me to autograph it for you too?)) he teased, giving her a wink._

_The girl__ turned red and looked around nervously. "Hu! ((No!)) she exclaimed, denying his accusation. "Dryd'c hud dnia!" ((That's not true!)) _

_Gippal grinned and grabbed her by her shoulders. __"Oh lusa uh, oui ghuf ed'c dnia, zicd cyo ed!" ((Oh come on, you know it's true, just say it!))_

_She shook her head violently. __"Hu hu hu!" ((No no no!)) She covered her ears with her hands, which made Gippal laughed. _

"_Ugyo ugyo." ((Okay okay.)) he said, holding up his hands in defense. "Fro tu oui fyhd y beldina uv sa drah?" ((Why do you want a picture of me then?))_

_She removed her hands from her ears and smiled happily. __"E tuh'd fyhd y beldina uv oui. E fyhd uha uv ic." ((I don't want a picture of you. I want one of us.)) she explained. _

_Gippal raised his eyeb__rows and gave her a questioning look. "Uv ic? Fro?" ((Of us? Why?)) _

_She sighed and looked down at her feet, awkwardly kicking up some desert sand with her shoes. __"Famm…palyica dutyo E fyc cgessehk drnuikr cusa beldina ympisc yht E naymewat dryd E tuh'd ryja yho beldinac uv ic, dukadran." ((Well…because today I was skimming through some picture albums and I realized that I don't have any pictures of us, together.)) _

_Gippal frowned__, but soon began to smile. "Ugyo drah. Mad'c dyga y beldina." ((Okay then. Let's take a picture.)) he said. "Pid E fyhd y lubo uv ed duu." ((But I want a copy of it too.))_

Fayth, how he would have loved to have seen Dheali at that age…at any age that she had passed, really.

He hadn't forgotten Dheali's call for help, her call for help to her father. The Faction leader had realized rather quickly that the young girl had been calling to him. He was her father.

Somehow he had known, or rather hoped, that she was his daughter. In his heart he was relieved and happy about the whole thing. When he was younger, 18 years younger to be exact, he had always dreamed of having children. But after the only female he had always dreamed of having kids with disappeared, he never committed to any other woman again.

18 years ago he was considered a womanizer. And now 18 years later he was still thought of that way. Always going from one woman to another, never taking the time to really commit. None of those women were good enough, none of them could compete with _her_.

And now his dream seemed to have come true. He had a daughter. Now the only thing that was missing, was _her_.

--

Dheali had been so exhausted that she didn't hear the knock on her door the first time. The second time, the knock was more persistent and louder.

Slowly she cracked one eye open and lifted her head a bit from her pillow. She was still wearing her clothes from that day; she had been too tired to change into her nightgown.

Again there was a knock on her door, and for a moment Dheali was trying to decide if she should open it or not.

What if Kahem got free and was now behind her door, ready to strike?

She shook that thought out of her head and stood up from the bed to open the door. It was locked from the inside, keeping her promise to Gippal to do so. She turned the key and slowly opened the door just far enough for her to see who was the one who had waken her.

An Al bhed man stood before her. He had really short blond hair and a lot of tattoos on his arms. He was looking rather upset…or worried perhaps.

Dheali tilted her head to the right and looked at him curiously. "Oac?" ((Yes?)) she tried with caution.

"Dheali?" the man asked, looking at her with emotion in his expression.

Dheali narrowed her eyes. "Oac…" ((Yes…)) she replied hesitantly.

At this, the man pushed open the door fully, making Dheali gasp and almost scream for help, but instead of attacking the young girl, the man took her in his arms and hugged her tight.

"E lyh'd pameaja ed. Oui muug cu silr mega ran." ((I can't believe it. You look so much like her.)) his voice was cracked with emotion and for a long moment, Dheali could only stand and not bring out a word from her throat.

Slowly the man loosened his grip on her and took her by the shoulders, a smile spread on his lips.

He looked familiar to her; she was sure she had met him before. Slowly it dawned her. He was with an older bald man the day when she had arrived here. The minute the two of them saw here they left the room and she had never seen them again. Now one of the two was here, hugging her like she was some sort of lost family member.

"Fru yna oui?" ((Who are you?)) she asked curiously.

The man frowned and released her shoulders to close her bedroom door. "Ouin sudran hajan dumt oui ypuid sa?" ((Your mother never told you about me?)) he asked disbelievingly.

Dheali thought really hard, but she could not remember anything about him in her mothers stories. Slowly she shook her head.

"E's Brother- E's ouin ihlma." ((I'm Brother- I'm your uncle.)) he introduced himself and smiled softly.

Dheali frowned and tilted her head again, an amused smirk crossing her lips. "So sus ymfyoc cyet oui ryt y Suryfg." ((My mom always said you had a Mohawk.)) she said, chuckling. "Fryd rybbahat du dryd?" ((What happened to that?))

Brother laughed, relieved that _she_ had told her about him after all. "Oayr…E's y meddma du umt vun dryd huf." ((Yeah…I'm a little to old for that now.)) He grinned sheepishly at her and took a seat in one of the chairs that decorated the room.

Dheali smiled amused, and sat on the edge of her bed, sitting on one leg while the other was hanging over the side. "Fro tet oui mayja cu cuuh mycd desa? Yht fru fyc drec syh fedr…" ((Why did you leave so soon last time? And who was this man with…)) she stopped in mid sentence and gave Brother an awkwardly long stare. She sighed and looked down at the ground. "Cid…nekrd? So knyhtvydran?" ((Cid…right? My grandfather?))

Brother nodded sadly. "Oayr, cunno ypuid res." ((Yeah, sorry about him.)) He shook his head, anger clearly visible in his eyes. "E lyh'd pameaja res! Ra'c cu cdippunh! Tuh'd funno ypuid res druikr, ra'mm dinh ynuiht. E's cina ra'mm mega oui, oui'na ran tyikrdan yvdan ymm. Cra fyc ymfyoc dra vyjuneda." ((I can't believe him! He's so stubborn! Don't worry about him though, he'll turn around. I'm sure he'll like you, you're _her_ daughter after all. She was always the favorite.))

Dheali frowned and shook her head. "Hu, dryd'c hud dnia. Ra mujac oui pudr, E's cina." ((No, that's not true. He loves you both, I'm sure.))

The Al bhed man shrugged. "Hyr, sa yht res hajan kud ymuhk ymm dryd famm." ((Nah, me and him never got along all that well.))

Dheali laughed and nodded her head. "E ghuf, cra dumt sa ymm ypuid ed. Cra cyet dryd oui dfu luimt hajan cdyo eh uha nuus muhkan drah 5 sehidac fedruid clnaysehk yht oammehk yd aylr udran." ((I know, she told me all about it. She said that you two could never stay in one room longer then 5 minutes without screaming and yelling at each other.)) Dheali told him.

Brother frowned, looking at her curiously. "Naymmo? Fryd amca tet cra damm oui?" ((Really? What else did she tell you?))

The young girl looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully before speaking up. "Ruf oui ymfyoc muugat uid vun ran frah oui fana getc. Yht ehm…Drec uha desa oui red ran fedr y mekrdhehk cbamm, frelr lnaydat ran brupey vun mekrdahehk. Ruf cra, oui, Buddy, Paine yht Yuna dnyjamat ymm ujan Cbeny yc dra Kimmfehkc, fedr oui yc y maytan. Yht dryd oui dfu ymfyoc vuikrd yht hajan yknaat uh yhodrehk! Yht ev oui tet, pyt drehkc rybbahat." ((How you always looked out for her when you were kids. And ehm…This one time you hit her with a lightning spell, which created her phobia for lightening. How she, you, Buddy, Paine and Yuna traveled all over Spira as the Gullwings, with you as a leader. And that you two always fought and never agreed on anything! And if you did, bad things happened.)) she said, repeating some of the things her mother had told her about the past.

While she talked, Brother smiled, the memories passing him by one by one. "Oayr…" ((Yeah…)) he said, as he stared at the ground with a sad smile.

Dheali bit her lip and fell silent.

Brother sighed and stood up from the chair. "E's cunno E fuga oui ib." ((I'm sorry I woke you up.)) he said, offering his apologies. "Fa'mm dymg cusa suna mydan, fuimt oui't mega dryd?" ((We'll talk some more later, would you'd like that?)) He sounded somewhat hopeful.

Dheali grinned happily and hopped off the bed, hugging the surprised Brother tightly. "Uv luinca." ((Of course.)) she said. "E't mega dryd." ((I'd like that.))

--

Paine paced through the corridor waiting for Baralai, who was in the other room on the commsphere with Bevelle. She hoped they would have some information about Kahem. She had ordered her two children to go to bed a while ago after they had had their supper. Paine sighed as time passed. She leaned with her back against the cold wall of the hallway, staring down at her feet as she waited for her husband to come through the door across from her.

Suddenly the door opened, and Baralai came walking out of the room. Paine looked up, a small smile on her face, but as she looked upon Baralai that smile soon disappeared.

"What? What is it?" she asked, tension rising.

"It's about that Kahem guy." Baralai said, an odd tone in his voice.

Paine rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know it's about him. Did they find anything?"

Her husband nodded as he stared at the ground for a moment. "Yeah, a lot actually. He's wanted for robbery, thievery, blackmail, assault and…" Baralai hesitated for a moment.

Paine frowned and gave him a light shove. "And?" she asked persistently.

Baralai bit his lip and looked his wife straight in her eyes, his features darkening. "And murder."

--

"Fayth! How did _she_ end up with a guy like that!" Yuna yelled through the mess hall where the entire group was seated, minus Gippal and Dheali.

Paine and Baralai had just told them about the information they had gotten from Bevelle, and everyone was quite shocked at what they heard.

Paine shrugged but didn't say anything. She was leaning against a table without saying a word, thinking hard to come up for an answer to Yuna's question.

Tidus, who was leaning with his back against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, shook his head slowly. "There are so many things we don't know. I don't understand why

Dheali won't give us some answers."

Baralai nodded, agreeing with him. "Yeah. Gippal told me that Dheali said she made a promise…" He trailed off and bit his lip, wondering what Dheali could have meant.

"A promise? To who?" Yuna asked, although she already knew the answer.

"A promise to _her_. Apparently _she_ doesn't want us to know." the praetor mumbled.

Paine narrowed her eyes a little. "Maybe she's ashamed."

At that moment Brother came walking in. He noticed the group and walked over to them, taking a seat in one of the chairs next to Baralai.

"Where have you been?" Yuna asked him curiously.

Brother shrugged and looked the other way. "At ehm…Dheali's room." he mumbled.

Tidus pushed himself off the wall and glared at him with large eyes. "What? I thought Gippal told you not to bother her! In fact, he told all of us not to bother her. Why'd you go there?"

"I wanted…" Brother started softly. "I wanted to get to know her a little…She is my neice after all."

Yuna smiled softly and reached over the table to place a comforting hand on her cousins shoulder. "I understand."

"We should ask her about _her_ whereabouts tomorrow." Tidus sounded determined, taking a seat.

They all agreed with the ex-blitzer and fell silent, thinking about the person they had lost so long ago. The person who left a big black hole in their hearts.

**The letter**

About a few days ago, I found out something

Something terrible about him

Apparently, though a part of me knew this already, he was smuggling stolen goods from the Yevon temple nearby.

The store he owns, and where I work at, is nothing but a cover-up.

I had to do something.

I couldn't just sit around and watch him get rich by stealing.

I didn't know how long this was going on, right under my nose…

I know I've stolen things before, so if you're giving me weird looks now, just know that I've never stolen anything from anyone other then colleagues thieves..

I decided to make a sphere of these activities and send it to Bevelle.

The idea of him in jail makes me kind of happy, I have to confess.

But the danger behind the whole thing makes me scared.

Not scared for me, because I've seen worse things.

I'm scared for Dheali, my daughter.

What if he found out about the sphere and threatens to kill Dheali?

I know he's capable of doing something like that, even though I've never witnessed it.

For that reason, she can't stay here.

I'm going to tell Dheali about everything today.

My past, who her father is, her family, the reason why I ran away 18 years ago, everything…

After that, she has to leave.

Right away

I'll send her to you…

I can only hope that you'll accept her, because she's yours too, you know...

* * *

_Read and review please!_


	14. First time flying

**A/N: **_Yeah, I'm still alive. _

I know it took me ages to update. And what I'm most ashamed of is that this chapter has been finished for like...three months or so. The betta reader for this story had it done a long time ago but I just couldn't find the time to fix all the flaws I made.  
School is keeping me busy, and still is.  
But anyways, it's the holidays now and I finally have two weeks off. So hopefully I'll be able to update the last chapter soon. Then it'll be done and you'll probably won't see me all that often here anymore. 

_I want to apologize for the long wait, and not only to the readers of this chapter, but also to (and most of all, I have to say) **Rikku the bluefirevixon**, who had done her best to betta read the chapter only to find it to be updated 3 to 4 months after her work. I am so so sorry, truly I am.  
Hopefully I haven't offended you by this long wait, and I hope that you'll betta-read the next and last chapter of this story too (if I can have it done on time)_

_Now all please enjoy the 14th chapter of this story. It's my Christmas present to you :)  
The chapter itself moves a little fast, but oh well..._

_Enjoy non the less!_

**

* * *

****Dream**

"_Oui ryja du mayja duhekrd" ((You have to leave tonight.)) A woman said to a young blonde teenage girl. The face of the older woman was vague. It was like a strange sort of fog surrounded her. She and the teenager were sitting in grass in an unknown location._

_The teen shook her head, not understanding. __"Fro?" ((Why?)) _

_The woman sighed and looked down at the ground. "Ed'c hud cyva rana yhosuna. Hud vun oui." ((It's not safe here anymore. Not for you.)) _

_This made the teenager upset. She grabbed the__ older woman by the shoulders and shook them desperately. "Hu! E's hud mayjehk oui rana!" ((No! I'm not leaving you here!))_

"_Mecdah…" ((Listen…))__ the woman started calmly, not shocked by the teenage girl's reaction. __"Ku du ouin vydran. E'ja dumt oui ypuid res, nekrd? __Ra'mm yllabd oui, E ghuf ra femm." __((Go to your father. I've told you about him, right? He'll accept you, I know he will.)) _

_The girl bit back some tears as she swallowed away a lump in her throat. "Pid E tuh'd fyhd du ku fedruid oui." ((But I don't want to go without you.)) she whispered softly. Her grip on the woman's shoulder loosened and her hands fell down into her lap._

"_Oui ryja du…" ((You have to…)) the woman said, lovingly stroking the girl's hair. She smiled softly and bent over to kiss the young girl softly on her forehead. "E muja oui, nasaspan dryd." ((I love you, remember that.)) _

_Slowly the image faded away and a new one appeared:_

_Two eyes were staring through the crack of a door.__ ON the other side stood three men and a woman. Again the faces of the people were vague, surrounded by that same sort of fog. The room appeared to be some kind of storage room. All kinds of crates were stacked on top of each other. A few of them were open, revealing artifacts which resembled the ones in the temples of Yevon._

"_Give us the sphere, and we won't hurt you." The person who was eavesdropping heard one of the men say. She couldn't see to whom the voice belonged._

_The woman, whose back was turned towards the eavesdropper, shook her head. "No." Her voice sounded calm and self assured._

_The peeking eyes went wide when the darkest looking man pulled out a gun, and pointed it towards the woman. "Give us the sphere." the man said demanding._

_Again the female shook her head. "What you're doing is wrong! I'm going to make sur__e you won't be able to steal or hurt anyone ever again!" The woman glared defiantly at each man. "All of you."_

_The man holding the gun grinned wickedly, which send chills down the eavesdroppers spine. "Alright, I guess I have no choice but to shoot you then." He pointed his gun towards the woman's torso and cocked the trigger._

_At that moment the eavesdropper pushed open the door and jumped between the gun and the woman. "Hu!" ((No!)) she yelled, trembling with shock and fear.. "Tuh'd cruud ran!" ((Don't shoot her!))_

_The man holding the gun looked up in surprise, but soon his face turned into that same grin. He laughed loudly, his eyes darkening. "Famm famm famm, muug fru'c rana." ((Well well well, look who's here.)) he growled in a deep voice, changing to Al bhed._

_The woman, who had looked so confident at first, looked nervously between the man with the gun and the __girl. "Don't you dare do anything to her!" she yelled, her voice shaking a little in panic and fear._

"_Then give us the sphere." one of the other men said. _

_The woman swallowed away a lump and bit her lip, looking at the floor in hesitation. _

_The man with the gun directed his weapon towards the eavesdropper. "Veha, drah E'mm cruud ran." ((Fine, then I'll shoot her.)) he said, switching languages again. He grinning wickedly, and pulled the trigger._

**The present**

"Hu!" ((No!)) Dheali screamed, sitting up in bed. She was bathed in sweat, her blonde bangs sticking to her forehead like glue. Her face was red with tension, and she was breathing heavily as she scanned her surroundings with large teary eyes.

She realized after a while that she was no longer in a stock room, but in her bedroom at Djose.

She sighed, falling back on the bed, and stared up at the ceiling. "Fryd y hekrdsyna." ((What a nightmare.)) she mumbled, still panting. She placed a hand on her forehead, which was red hot, and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Dheali? Yna oui ymnekrd?" ((Dheali? Are you alright?)) she heard the muffled voice of Gippal say.

Dheali looked at the door, contemplating if she should tell him about the dream.

Another knock shook her out of her thoughts.

"Dheali?!" Gippal said again, a little louder this time.

"E's veha!" ((I'm fine!)) Dheali lied. She closed her eyes and smiled softly. That would be considered the first time she had lied to her father. It's not like it felt good, but she never had a father to lie to before.

She wondered how Gippal felt about the whole father idea. It was something she desperately wanted to ask him, but she kept her mouth shut. What if he didn't want a daughter?

Dheali bit her lip and turned her head away from the door.

After a short moment of silence she heard his footsteps walking away from her door followed by the sound of another door closing near her room.

Gippal had left.

--

It was late in the morning when Dheali finally awoke. The nightmare had tired her out so much that she slept through breakfast. When she finally came down, fully dressed, everyone else was already in the hall, waiting for her.

Not only the people Dheali knew were there, but also people from Bevelle. Guards or soldiers, she wasn't sure.

She gave them a curious look as she passed the people from Bevelle, before she came to a halt next to Tylian. "Kuut sunhehk." ((Good morning.)) Tylian greeted her with a smile.

Dheali nodded, smiling vaguely. "Oayr, kuut sunhehk." ((Yeah, good morning.)) she said softly, eying Gippal.

He seemed to be focused on the door that had led to the trials in the old days.

She frowned and looked up at the door as well.

As if on cue the door opened and two more soldiers came walking out with Kahem in between.

Dheali sucked in breath and looked at the, surprisingly enough, smirking Kahem. Her heart beat maniacally when she noticed that his eyes were directly on her. She averted her green swirls to Gippal, who had a very angry look on his face

"Fryd'c kuehk uh?" ((What's going on?)) she whispered to Tylian.

Tylian shook her head, not sure herself either. "E drehg drao'na dygehk Kahem du Bevelle un cusadrehk." ((I think they're taking Kahem to Bevelle or something.))

Dheali bit her lip as she watched them come closer.

The guards, who were holding Kahem, passed the group in silence. Kahem was still smirking, and when they came to where Dheali and Tylian were standing, he stopped abruptly.

"Tet oui damm dras fryd oui tet?" ((Did you tell them what you did?)) he asked Dheali in such a sweet voice that it sent shivers down her spine.

Dheali bit her lip and looked down at the ground, afraid of facing him.

"Famm?" ((Well?)) he asked.

The guards tried to pull him, but he held his ground firmly. "E's fyedehk vun yh yhcfan Dheali. Yna oui cina drao fyhd oui du cdyo rana yvdan drao ghuf fryd oui tet? Fruca vyimd ed naymmo fyc?" ((I'm waiting for an answer Dheali. Are you sure they want you to stay here after they know what you did? Whose fault it really was?)) His eyes stared at her in pure evilness until the other two guards came in to pull Kahem forward. "Drehg ypuid ed Dheali!" ((Think about it Dheali!)) he yelled over his shoulder as they walked out the entrance.

Dheali felt her face heat up, and she dared not to look up and face the others, especially her father.

Baralai was the first to clear his throat and speak up, breaking the silence that had fallen upon them. "Dheali, fa haat du ycg oui cusadrehk." ((Dheali, we need to ask you something.)) he said firmly.

Dheali bit her lip, almost certain that they were going to ask her what Kahem was talking about. Afraid that they wanted to know the truth behind Kahem's words. Even though it pained her to admit it, Kahem was telling the truth.

"Fa fyhd oui du dyga ic du ouin sudran." ((We want you to take us to your mother.)) His voice sounded somewhat demanding, but still had a kind tone to it.

Dheali looked up just slightly and stared at him for a while before answering. "Ymnekrd." ((Alright.)) It sounded more like a whisper, and for a moment Baralai wasn't sure if she had said anything at all. "Fa ryja du ku du Kilika drah." "We have to go to Kilika then." she said, a little louder this time, so that everyone could hear it.

The group exchanged looks, surprised that Dheali had actually agreed.

Although Gippal was happy with the answer Dheali gave, he wasn't very cheerful. Somewhere in his heart he could feel that something was off. Why wasn't Dheali happy that they were going to see her mother? Shouldn't she be excited to see her mother again after she had been away for who knows how long? And…what was Kahem talking about?

All these questions and more kept Gippal from smiling at the thought of being reunited with _her_.

The group took the Machine Faction's private airship to decrease the time that it would take to get to Kilika and the time that Dheali could go back on her word.

Kilika…the place where she had been hiding for all those years.

Dheali stood looking out one of the large windows as the airship took off into the sky. She stared down at the landscape in amazement, with her face practically glued to the window.

As Paine came walking down the hallway, she noticed the girl with a small smile. She looked just like herself so many years ago, when she had her first flight on an airship.  
"E dyga ed oui hajan fahd vmoehk pavuna?" ((I take it you never went flying before?)) Paine asked as she came to stand beside the Al bhed girl.

Dheali turned her head at the sound of a voice and smiled. "Hu, drec ec so vencd desa." ((No, this is my first time.)) she said and turned back toward the scenery. Djose was far below them now and seemed nothing more then a grey spot. Then her eyes went to the moonflow where Dheali had been hiding out when Kahem showed up.

Dheali's smile faded at the thought of Kahem. Worry was spread across her face. She knew he would find a way to escape those guards, and the first person he would want to pay a visit too was her.

"Ajanouha ec aqledat du caa _ran_." ((Everyone is excited to see _her_.)) Paine said suddenly, breaking Dheali away from her thoughts.

She looked up at Paine, who gave her a small smile. "Oayr, E ghuf." ((Yeah, I know.)) Dheali said, but not as cheerfully as Paine had expected.

She gave Dheali a questioning look. "Fryd'c fnuhk?" ((What's wrong?)) she asked with slight suspicion in her voice.

Dheali shook her head, staring at the landscape below them absent-mindedly. "Hudrehk. Cra'mm pa rybbo duu." ((Nothing. She'll be happy too.))

Paine narrowed her eyes but decided to let it go. She nodded and folded her hands over her chest while she joined Dheali staring out of the window.

The trip to Kilika went surprisingly fast. Everyone unloaded and walked to the entrance of the forest, waiting for Dheali to lead the way.

At first she hesitated, staring into the depths of the forest. It wasn't until Gippal placed a worried hand on her shoulder that she sprung back to life.

"Oh…" Dheali said, startled. "Ars, vummuf sa." ((Ehm, follow me.))

--

**The letter**

If you get to read this letter…

It will mean that I'm no longer here to tell you all of this in person

It scares to me to write this.

Because I know that there is that possibility -

The possibility of me dying.

Of course I don't want that, not for me nor for Dheali…

Nor for any of you.

But if it's so, then please don't be sad.

Go on with your lives like you have been while I was gone.

And please, take Dheali with you.

She has no one, next to me.

I'm asking you, Gippal…

Take care of our daughter.

I had her past and now you can have her future

And don't be mad at her for not answering any of your questions.

I asked her not too, because I wanted to tell you my story myself.

And by this, I did.

* * *

_Read and review, as always_


	15. An open ending

**A/N: **_I must say that I'm very relieved that the last chapter is finally here! It took up a lot of my time, but I figured out that I can't really go without writing. I've already started a new story on my account on fictionpress, ghehe. _

_This chapter is almost 10 pages in word...pretty long I must say o.O _

I'll stop talking now and leave you to the story :) 

_Have fun!_

* * *

I know that there is time of coming…and a time of going 

Now I have to inform you that this time is a time of going.

Goodbye, and hopefully but most unlikely till next time.

--

Dheali seemed to slow down with every step she took. It was almost as if she didn't want to be there— as if she didn't want to see her mother.

This concerned the rest of the group since they weren't sure what to expect when they were finally reunited with _her_.

The trip through the forest was short, but seemed to last a lifetime for Gippal and the others. It was as if Dheali was not sure this was what she really wanted.

Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks. Tidus, who had been staring absent-mindedly into the distance, almost tripped over his own feet.

"Whoa dad, watch it!" Cary called out startled as he grabbed his father by one shoulder to steady him.

Tidus scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

Gippal was watching Dheali carefully. She was turned with her back towards him so he wasn't able to see her face. Her hands were making little fists, and she was squeezing them so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her whole body seemed to be trembling.

Tylian grabbed her brother softly by the arm and stood by him as closely as she could. Her eyes looked down on Dheali sadly, knowing that something must be terribly wrong. She wanted to say something to her new friend. She looked to her mother, but received only a small shake of the head. Tylian knew this was a time to keep her mouth closed.

Kyran, who usually paid little notice to his twin, covered her hand with his, trying to comfort her as best as he could.

Yuna bit her lip and looked nervously around her, looking for any signs of _her_, thinking that that was the reason Dheali had stopped walking. Cary looked at his mother and for the first time in years, he understood the emotional situation she was facing. She must be feeling so much tension now that she was so close to meeting her cousin, whom she deeply loved and cared for, once again.

Hesitantly he took his mother's hand in his, startling her at the touch of their hands. With surprise written all over her face she looked at him, and he could only smile. Luckily she smiled back, all though she still appeared sad.

"I'm okay." she said, barely audiable.  
It caught Tidus's attention, making him turn towards his wife in worry.  
Again Yuna smiled and nodded that indeed she was fine, but Tidus placed a comforting hand on her shoulder anyway.

"Dheali." Gippal said, breaking the silence. He came to stand beside her, as a supportive father would when his child was troubled.

Dheali turned away her face, a strand of hair falling and covering one of her eyes with shadow..  
"Ec drec dra bmyla?" ((Is this the place?)) he asked carefully, trying not to put too much pressure on her.

Dheali swallowed and nodded slowly.

Gippal looked around him, his eyes scanning their surroundings, but there was nothing more to see than trees, woods, and a small river on the right. "Yna oui cina?" ((Are you sure?))

Dheali nodded again and pointed towards a fallen tree branch that was leaning on some kind of hill on the other side of the river.

"Up there?" Gippal frowned and looked back over his shoulder towards the others.

The branch seemed to catch the attention of both Yuna and Paine.

"I know this place…" Yuna breathed as she looked at Paine knowingly.

Paine nodded; she had recognized it as soon as Dheali had pointed it out. "Didn't we find that cactuar up there in our Gullwing days?" she asked with raised eyebrows, all though she already knew the answer.

Yuna nodded slowly and gave Gippal a nod. "We have to climb up there, there's a platform on the other end of the branch." she explained.

Gippal nodded and, noticing that Dheali was starting to look emotional, placed both of his hands on her shoulders to comfort her. His heart was racing maniacally as he feared the worst.

Although the climb only took a few minutes, it seemed to take hours before everyone was finally on the platform.

Once there, Yuna looked around in confusion.

There was nothing.

"Eh…" Tidus started, scratching his head awkwardly. "Shouldn't we be seeing something now?" he asked in a hesitant voice.

Paine shrugged her shoulders, as her red orbs scanned their surroundings. There was nothing there but grass and that same old treasure chest that had been up there since before their Gullwing time.

All eyes were on Dheali when she stepped up and slowly walked over to where the treasure chest was standing. She kneeled down, placing both knees on the ground, and opened the chest with a key she had fished out of one of the pouches on her belt.

Everyone waited to see what was inside the chest with suspense, their view blocked by the secretiveness of the young Al Bhed girl.

Gippal furrowed his brow he stared at Dheali's back. He thought she would take them to her mother, but he could see nothing other than the chest.

Slowly Dheali stood up and turned around, holding a bright blue sphere in her hands. A small smile was on her lips, but Gippal could see that her eyes looked down at it sadly.

"What is it?" Kyran mumbled, confused.

Tylian whacked him over the head irritated. "It's a sphere you dumb ass." she said, shaking her head.

Kyran shot his sister an angry glare. "I know what it is." he spat back, poking her left side. "But what's on it?"

Gippal came forward and went to stand beside the young Al bhed girl. "Fryd'c drec?" ((What's this?)) he asked with questioning eyes.

Dheali looked up and bit her lips, slowly raising her hands which still held the sphere. "Drec ec fryd Kahem fyc muugehk vun. Dra fruma naycuh pareht drec sacc." ((This is what Kahem was looking for. The whole reason behind this mess.)) She looked at the others for a moment before turning back to Gippal and giving him the sphere.

Gippal took it with confusion, staring at it in obvious disappointment.

"But where is your mother?!" Yuna demanded in a somewhat harsh tone. Quickly she clasped her hands over her mouth and looked down ashamed. "I…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Dheali smiled ever so slightly and nodded her head reassuringly towards Yuna, letting her know that it was okay.

"Frana 'ec' ouin sudran?" ((Where 'is' your mother?)) Tidus asked.

Dheali looked at him in silence for a while. "Cra'c ujan drana." ((She's over there.)) she said finally, pointing towards the sea.

The platform became awkwardly silent as everyone seemed to stare at the sea in confusion.

"Cra'c eh dra cay?" ((She's in the sea?)) Paine asked with a frown.

Dheali shook her head and began to answer, "Cra—" ((She—))

"Alright, hand it over!" a gruff voice interrupted.

Everyone turned around, only to gasp at the man who stood at the exit of the platform, holding a gun and pointing pointed it towards Gippal, keeping an eye on the others.

Gippal ripped his eye away from the blue ocean as soon as he heard the man's voice. His eye narrowed dangerously and his heart seemed to stop for a moment when he recognized the man's scarred face. "Kahem…" he growled deeply.

Kahem chuckled and took a step forward with a smirk on his face and a glint in his eyes.  
"That's right."

Baralai shook his head. "But that's impossible, the guards took you away!" he exclaimed.

Kahem's smirk grew wider and he stepped aside, clearing the path as two more men walked forward. "I'd like to introduce you to two of my friends, Datsu and Berkan."

Two obscure looking men came climbing up the platform, each of them holding a gun similar to Kahem's. They both wore a Yevon guard outfits.

Dheali breathed in sharply as she recognized them as two of the men that had helped carry Kahem away earlier that day. Not only that, they both had appeared in her dream the night before.

"Now give up the sphere, and we wont hurt you." Kahem said with a calm voice.

Datsu and Berkan looked at each other in surprise.

"We wont?" Datsu asked with disappointment in his voice.

Kahem looked back and shot them a glare that silenced them both. He turned back, satisfied, and looked from one person to another, impatiently waiting for their answer. "Well?"

"Oui'na hud kaddehk dra cbrana!" ((You're not getting the sphere!)) Dheali yelled suddenly, knowing what Kahem came here for. Her outburst surprised everyone on the platform.

Kahem smirked, his eyes shining dangerously at the girl. "Ur naymmo…" ((Oh really…)) He started to walk around a bit, waving the gun around in an imposing matter. "E drehg drec'mm pa y kuut desa du cbemm dra payhc, tuh'd oui drehg?" ((I think this'll be a good time to spill the beans, don't you think?))

Dheali's face paled, and she looked down with a shocked expression. "H…hu." ((N…no.)) she whispered, barely audible.

Kahem grinned and pursed his lips. "Yr, fryd'c dryd? Oui tu? Ymnekrd drah…" ((Ah, what's that? You do? Alright then…)) He crossed his arms over his chest and gave Dheali an amused stare.

Everyone fell dead silent. Even though they felt sorry for Dheali, they all wanted to hear what Kahem had to say, for it might bring some light to the whole situation.

"Mad sa damm oui drec…Oui'ja ymm paah buehdehk vehkanc eh so tenaldeuh, frema dra kiemdo bancuh ec nekrd ujan drana." ((Let me tell you this…You've all been pointing fingers in my direction, while the guilty person is right over there.)) He smirked deviously and pointed an accusing finger towards Dheali, who broke down in tears as soon as he spoke those words.

"E…E teth'd…" ((I…I didn't…)) she chocked out between sobs.

Kahem laughed. "Yr lusa uh, uv luinca oui tet." ((Ah come on, of course you did.)) His laugh died and his eyes darkened somewhat. "Oui gemmat ouin ufh sudran." ((You killed your own mother.)) His voice sounded harsh and the words seemed to drop down on Dheali like a huge hammer.

She slowly fell to her knees, tears flowing freely now.

Tylian choked and tried hard to force back her own tears, but she was failing miserably. She grabbed hold of Kyran's arm for support, which he gave willingly.

Yuna cried too, soft sobs escaping her as she was held by Tidus. He wanted to help calm her down, but he too was upset by the news. Cary had grabbed her hand and squeezed it ever so gently, letting her know that he too was there for her.

Paine, of course, had a blank emotionless face, but Baralai knew better. As soon as he placed his hand on her shoulder, she turned around and buried her face in his chest.

Gippal…he wanted so badly to just take Dheali in his arms, but Kahem's words were stilling sinking in.

She was dead?

She was actually dead?

How was that possible?

Gippal had always pictured _her_ to live forever. To live forever by **his** side.  
But now…she was gone.

Dheali shook her head. Softly at first, almost not seeable. But it became more fierce, more rapid. Emotions boiled up inside her so fast that they finally burst.

"Hu!" ((No!)) she screamed, ramming her fists to the ground. "Cra'c hud tayt! Cra'c hud!" ((She's not dead! She's not!))

Kahem narrowed his eyes when she said that, you could see by the look of his face that he wasn't happy with what Dheali was saying. In a slow and intimidating pace, he walked over to the Al Bhed girl and yanked her up by her hair.

"Cra'c tayt! Vyla ed!" ((She's dead! Face it!)) he spat.

When Kahem had walked over to Dheali, Gippal looked at the man alarmed. But as soon as Kahem had grabbed the girl by her hair, something inside of him snapped.

He wasn't sure if he was driven by the yelp Dheali gave, but he brought back his fist and slammed it against Kahem's head with as much force as he had in him. He was sure he heard something snap, but at that moment he didn't care.

Kahem, who hadn't seen it coming, fell to the ground with a loud thud.

His two companions had no time to react properly since Tidus and Baralai had charged right at them as soon as Gippal had thrown the punch. They overpowered Kahem's friends with a slight struggle, and soon the two villains were on the ground with Tidus and Baralai hovering over them dangerously.

"Yuna! Cast a spell! Quick!" Tidus called out when the man beneath him managed to tackle Tidus and get away.

Yuna nodded. It had been a long time since she had needed to cast a spell, but luckily she still had a few tricks up her sleeve.

Berkan ran for the exit of the platform, but just as he reached for the branch to climb down, he fell to ground with a loud thud and remained silent.

Tidus turned to his wife with huge blue eyes. "Uh…Yuna, what spell did you cast?" he asked with a quiver in his voice, remembering the death spell Lulu used to cast during their pilgrimage days.

Yuna smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, he's asleep, not dead." She pointed at Berkan when the man began to snore loudly. "See, everything is alright."

Tidus laughed nervously and with one last look at the sleeping Berkan he directed his eyes towards Gippal and Kahem.

Gippal had to restrain himself to not pound upon the man who lay on the ground before him.

Kahem squirmed on the ground, holding his bleeding nose as he cursed loudly.

A silence fell over the group— no one seemed to dare say anything.

Dheali was still sitting on the ground, shocked and afraid to move. Her eyes were glued on Kahem's face and the blood that slowly dripped off his chin. The broken nose wasn't enough according to Dheali. The blood on Kahem's face didn't compare to everything she had been through. Not only herself, but also her mother. She wanted Kahem to pay for everything he had done.

"Pycdynt " ((Bastard.)) she whispered, barely audible. Slowly she stood up, under the watchful eyes of everyone there.

Her hands were clenched tightly as every bad memory she had of him flashed before her eyes. "Oui pycdynt!" ((You bastard!)) she yelled, and in one swift movement she kicked Kahem in the stomach.

Kahem screamed out when her foot connected with his gut and he turned away couching.

Gippal grabbed Dheali by her arm when he noticed that she was about to take another swing at the man and held her tight. "Dryd'c ahuikr Dheali." ((That's enough Dheali.)) he said in a firm voice.

A loud curse escaped Kahem's mouth. "Damn that girl." he mumbled between curses. "Damn her and her stupid mother!"

Tidus took over Baralai task of holding down the other villain so that Baralai could make a call to Bevelle to come and pick up Kahem to put him behind bars— for real this time.

Since there was nothing left for anyone on the platform, they all retired back to the airship, taking the villains, under the high security of Tidus, Baralai and Gippal, with them.

Kahem and his gang were stored in a small storage room somewhere on the far back of the airship to await their own ride home.

Home meaning, prison.

Gippal had retreated back to his quarters, after informing everyone he needed some time alone to think.

Shortly after that, Dheali also disappeared. Although she didn't explain the reason why, Paine had a good guess at what her reason might be. After all that had happened on the platform that day, she too must have been be in great need of rest.

But, instead of going to the quarters Dheali had been given, she went straight to Gippal's door.

She fiddled with one of the pouches on her belt as she stared at the closed metal door. Dheali closed her eyes tightly and bit her lip, trying to gather up the courage to knock on Gippal's door.

Slowly she raised her hand, fingers turning into a small fist, until it touched the cold metal.

With one last sigh she knocked and waited for Gippal to answer.

"What?!" sounded the gruff voice of her father on the other side of the door.

Dheali chewed on the inside of her cheek, wondering if coming here so shortly after what had happened today was such a good idea after all.

"Who is it?!" Gippal demanded.

"Ar, rammu?" ((Eh, hello?)) Dheali spoke up after taking a deep breath of air.

She could hear someone standing up and moving towards the door. Slowly after that the doorknob was turned and the metal door opened, revealing a tired looking Gippal.

"Dheali…lusa eh." ((Dheali…come in.)) He opened the door further so that Dheali could walk into the room.

The whole time, the girl was fiddling with a pouch on her belt. Gippal noticed her nervousness.

He closed the door behind her and turned around to lean against it. "Fryd'c fnuhk?" ((What's wrong?)) he asked, observing her every move.

Dheali swallowed and faced him, but when her eyes met his for a brief moment, she quickly averted them to the ground. "E's cunno ypuid dutyo. E ghuf oui aqbaldat du caa ran." ((I'm sorry about today. I know you expected to see _her_.))

Gippal narrowed his eye slightly. "Oac, E tet. Frana ec cra yhofyo?" ((Yes, I did. Where is _she_ anyway?))

Dheali sighed and started to move around a bit until she noticed a picture on the wall of a younger Gippal and the Gullwings. She smiled softly and stared at it for a while, at one person in particular.

"Dheali! E ycgat oui y xiacdeuh!" ((Dheali! I asked you a question!)) Gippal demanded. He quickly regretted that he had yelled out like that, but his daughter's silence had made him agitated.

Dheali jumped around in shock when she heard her father's voice fill the room, she swallowed and smiled weakly.

"Frana ec cra, Dheali?" ((Where is _she_, Dheali?)) Gippal asked again, even though he feared what the answer might be. But somehow, what Dheali had said on the platform gave him just a little bit of hope that things might be different than they seemed. "Damm sa…" ((Tell me…)) his voice had quieted down now and almost sounded pleading as he took a few steps closer to the girl. "Bmayca." ((Please.))

Dheali bit her lip and looked towards a window that out looked upon the village of Kilika. "Cra'c kuha." ((She's gone.)) she said after a while.

Gippal's heart stopped for a second as she spoke those words. "Fryd…" ((What…)) He cleared his throat to remove the hoarse nervousness from it. "Fryd tu oui sayh cra'c kuha? Yht fryd fyc eh dra cbrana?" ((What do you mean she's gone? And what was in the sphere?))

The girl smiled and looked down at the pouch she had been fiddling with. Finally she opened it, revealing a neatly fold up piece of paper. "Drana fyc cusadrehk amca eh dra lracd." ((There was something else in the chest.)) she said, or rather whispered. Her voice sounded so soft that Gippal wasn't sure if she had said anything at all. "Cra fyhdat oui du ryja drec." ((_She_ wanted you to have this.)) she said, holding out the folded piece of paper.

Gippal stared at it for a while, not saying anything. His fingers itched to reach out and grab the piece of paper, but something held him back. What was he going to find when he unfolded that piece of paper. What did she want him to know?

Dheali sighed and walked up to him, grabbing one of his much larger hands with her own. In his hand she placed the piece of paper and closed his fingers around it. "Nayt ed." ((Read it.)) she said, with a small nod, before walking back to the door.

"Fyed." ((Wait.)) Gippal managed to say just as Dheali's fingers touched the doorknob. "Ec cra naymmo…kuha." ((Is _she_ really…gone?))

The girl smiled and opened the door. "Cra'mm pa pylg." ((She'll be back.)) she said, closing the door behind her.

Gippal stared at the closed door for a while, before his eyes darted back to his hand and the folded paper Dheali had placed inside it. Moving towards his bunk, he sat down, opened his hand and grabbed the paper, opening it.

It was a letter, written in _her_ handwriting. He would recognize it anywhere.

He sighed and closed his eye for a moment, gathering enough courage to read the words she had written.

Her last words.

Slowly he opened his eye and began to read.

_It has been nineteen years since Vegnagun__'s destruction, eighteen years since my disappearance and sixteen years since they had stopped searching for me. I always thought they'd stop sooner, but hoped they would search longer. But they didn't…and somehow…that still makes me sad._

--

The sun was blistering hot in the desert, shining its sunrays down upon the working Al bhed at one of the many camps located in Bikanel.

Sticking out from under the remainders of what looked like a hover, were two legs. A man was trying to fix whatever was left to fix of the old thing, but it wasn't really working out the way he wanted it too. A lot of cursing was coming out from under the thing, earning a few surprised and questioning looks from people who were passing by.

"Damned screw wont…Damn it." the gruff voice mumbled from under the machine.

A giggle was heard and a sound of something falling into the sand came to the man's ears.  
"Need some help with that?"

The tinkering stopped and so did the cursing. It stayed silent for a while until the legs began to move as the man slowly pulled himself out from under the machine. A bald head with grease smears all over the place came out from under the machine. The man looked straight at the female that stood before him, a duffle bag next to her bare, tanned legs.

The female smiled, and the man could only stare with large eyes as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

A giggle escaped her lips once again and she shook her head, still smiling. "Rao vydran." ((Hey father.))

**-Fin-**

* * *

**A/N: **_So that's the end!  
I hope it gives some answers. If some of you are still wondering what was in the sphere (and I have to admit, it didn't really explain in the story) read the letter again. But I can tell you now that what was in the sphere was a part of the second part of the dream in the previous chapter._

_I can't take all the credit for this story by the way.  
At least half the credit (if not more!) goes to the betta reader of this story **'Rikku the bluefirevixon'. **She has done a great job correcting my bad english and turning into a readable story!  
Not only do I want to thank you for betta-reading, but also for everything I've learned from your comments and tips. _

_So that's that then! The end of this story, but hopefully nog the end of my time here on fanfiction. _

_I'd also like to thank all the readers and reviewers who have taken the time to read and/or review this story._

_Thank you, I love you all_

_Hommeles _


	16. Epilogue

**-Epilogue-  
**_(bettaread by: Rikku the bluefirevixon)_

I stared up at the ceiling of my bedroom, my mint green eyes long accustomed to the darkness of the night. I found myself looking up at the white painted ceiling at night quite often. It occurred to me that I hadn't been able to sleep through an entire night ever since I left Kilika to find Gippal.

I could still remember the thrilling feeling I felt when I first laid eyes on him. I had been so excited to meet Gippal after all these years. He didn't even seem to mind that I called him father after that incident with Kahem.

I shuddered slightly at the memory of my encounter with that evil man. My hands automatically clutched the fabric of my blanket a little tighter as the image of Kahem´s face appeared in my mind, and I pulled the cover up to my chin. At least here I felt safe, with my father around…and the knowledge that Kahem was behind bars. Still, I couldn't shake away the angst away that turned a knob in my stomach, so I quickly switched to a happier memory.

Gippal…my dad, asking me to stay with him here in Djose.

A smile crept up on my face as I remembered that day and couldn't believe that three weeks had already passed since that day.

I let my head fall to the left so that I eyes could see the alarm clock positioned on the nightstand next to my bed. The red-lit letters flickered 2:36 AM, and I sighed knowing that it would not be easy to fall asleep any time soon.

The nightmares I had been having almost every night were really starting to exhaust me. Even my father had started to notice the dark purple circles growing beneath my eyes. No matter how many layers of foundation I applied on my face, they were hard to ignore.

I felt stupid and useless because not only did I look tired, I felt tired too. Yesterday I even fell asleep while I was lying under a hover trying to repair the engine.

Luckily Zam noticed it before anyone else could and woke me up.

I smiled as my new friend's face appeared in my thoughts. I wasn't used to having friends, but Zam seemed to be a really good one.

I traced the soft material of my covers with my fingers and sighed once again. I had to close my eyes to be able to fall asleep, but they refused to listen and stayed wide open.

I groaned and placed a hand over my eyes, forcing my eyelids to close and smiled at the sudden blackness. Yet it didn't take long before the visions of previous nightmares reappeared in my head and I dropped my hand, my eyes snapping wide open once more.

This was no good. How was I supposed to sleep when my eyes and mind refused to cooperate?

I pressed my lips together and frowned out of annoyance, trying very hard to concentrate on the memory of how it felt to fall asleep hoping that it would do me some good.

The silence around me was frustrating. It signified every other sleeping Al bhed in Djose and I couldn't help but feel the sting of jealously coursing through my heart.

I don't know how long it took before my eyes gave up, but eventually they closed and I slipped into a light slumber. I could still hear the piercing silence around me and faintly distinguish the pale silver moonlight, coming through the window into the shadowy darkness of my room, but I wasn't truly 'awake' anymore.

I rolled over on my side and sighed contentedly at the sudden warmth next to me. I imagined a pair of soft warm arms holding me tenderly. I smiled, and snuggled in closer as I imagined the way my mother used to hold me when I couldn't sleep. When I was still a child, and even into my teens, we would sometimes share the same bed. I always felt safer with my mother so close by. She was everything I was not: brave, gorgeous, outgoing. I wish I was half the person she was.

I inhaled deeply and my smile grew wider. I could swear I smelled her fragrance: a mix of fruit and engine oil. My mind was really playing tricks on me this time, or maybe I was just going crazy.

A hand went softly through my hair, gently combing it out of my closed eyes. I sighed again at the touch, and just when I felt myself slipping further and further away into a pleasant sleep, I tensed.

That hand hadn't felt as surreal as everything else.

And now that I thought about it, the warmth felt really real too. Even the smell was hard to ignore and pass off as a figment of my imagination.

Someone was here…right here next to me…in my bed.

My eyes snapped open and I nearly jumped into a sitting position. My eyes widened as I recognized the contours of the figure, lying on the edge of my bed. Ít too sat up straight, and I found that I couldn't make my body relax. It was silent for a while before the figure finally decided to speak.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" her feminine and slightly childish voice asked apologetically.

_Breathe…_I thought, _remember to breathe._

I sucked in a breath of fresh air, allowing my brain the much needed oxygen and I stared at the woman before me.

Was I really going crazy?

"M…mom?"

I could see a faint smile appearing on the females face and one nod with her head confirmed my thoughts.

And all I could do was stare…

I had, very often, fantasized about our reunion. Most of the time it involved me squealing like an idiot and crushing her against my chest.

Sometimes I fainted too.

I could feel my lips tremble as the seconds passed and I swallowed away the lump that had formed in my throat.

"M…mom…" I repeated choking over the word and breaking out in soft sobs.

My mother let out a short chuckle that broke into a sob and she threw her arms around me, pressing my head right under her chin, holding her hand gently against my temple.

"Mom…I…m…missed you…so much…so much." I cried softly on her chest.

I could hear her swallow and laugh through her own tears. "I know Dheali, I know. I am so sorry sweetheart."

My arms found a way around her shoulders and I locked her into my hug, wishing we could stay like this forever. Just me. And my mother. Forever.

If I had died in that moment, I would have died happy.

"Never…never leave…me again. Promise." I demanded weakly holding her even tighter if that was possible.

"I won't." Her voice was a mere whisper, but her words were clearer to me than anything else ever had been. "I'm here. And I'm staying."

--

We laid like that until the first streams of sunlight broke through the clouds and shone into my room. We were both reluctant to let each other go.

Mother and daughter.

Only one crucial element was missing now, but I had no worries. Everything was going to be alright from now on.

Even though I had promised Gippal the night before to make an early start that morning, we didn't get up until 9:00 AM.

Gippal didn't seem to mind though, or at least he didn't come and wake me. He was probably happy that I was getting some 'sleep', or so it must have seemed to him.

Despite the fact that I didn't want to get up, I had to, just so I could get dressed.

"Stay there, okay?" I asked my mom, casting a worried glance over my shoulder every second as I picked out some clothes to wear.

She smiled warmly at me and nodded. "I'm not going anywhere" she promised and my heart skipped with joy.

I ran towards my private bathroom, and took the shortest shower in the history of mankind. I got dressed even more quickly and darted through the door when I was done, jumping on the bed and embracing my mother again.

"I'm so glad you came back." I whispered, feeling the tears sting behind my eyes once more.

She stroked my back affectionately and smiled. "Me too. I missed you."

I smiled back and we looked at each other like that for a while before I finally took her by her hand and pulled her up from the bed. "Come on. Let's go."

She seemed hesitant but got up anyway and followed me through the hall as we made our way towards the kitchen, which was downstairs.  
All the while we held hands, my gaze fixed on her face, as if she was a bubble that was about to pop.

She grinned at me as I almost tripped over my own feet. "You're still as clumsy as ever." she said, giggling.

I smiled sheepishly at her, but it turned into a frown as a question popped up in my head. "How did you get here?" I asked curiously, while climbing down the stairs that lead us to a small hallway at the right side of the temple.

She smiled and shrugged. "Cid gave me a ride in his new airship." she said, winking at me.

"Oh…no I meant…" I replied, remembering the old bald man from over a month ago. "How did you get in Djose?" We passed the doors of the canteen, which was empty at this time of day. Most of the workers were already up and going.

"Oh…I've got my ways" she said and smiled her sly smile. "That reminds me Gippal really needs to improve Djose's alarm system." She tsked while shaking her head.

I giggled. "Yeah I know; I keep telling him that too."

The kitchen door came into view. The head chef (although I wouldn't really call him a chef per se...) came through the door before I could reach for the knob and held it open for us.

I gave him a friendly nod and entered. My mother followed my example.

"Thanks." she said and winked at him as she passed.

He blinked and stared at her in shock and recognition; his grip loosened on the door and it fell closed behind her.

"It was really easy picking the lock on the backdoor. I hadn't done that in years and I wasn't sure if I still had it in me. But a few twists and turns, and **_click_**_,_" she made a motion with her hands at the sound," and it was open, just like that."

"Really?" I opened the fridge and pulled out a cart of milk and placed it on the counter. "Cereal?" I asked her as I reached for the box of cereal in the cupboard next to the fridge.

"Yes, thank you. I'm starving." My mother was leaning over the counter that served as a bar, occupying one of the two barstools that stood there.

I poured some cereal into two bowls and divided the milk betweeb them. "Here you go." I said, giving her a spoon and a bowl.

"Thanks." She grabbed the bowl and spoon and eagerly shoved a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

I grinned and started poking at my own, eating small bites every now and then. "So," I started, "you have to tell me everything."

She was about to start when a deep voice interrupted our conversation.

"Goodmorning Dheali." the voice I recognized immediately said.

I tensed as I stared in shock at the man coming through the kitchen door facing my mothers back. I looked from him to my mother and saw that her face too had frozen, her eyes wide as she dared not turn around.

Gippal, oblivious to the whole situation, walked over to the kitchen counter where I'd left the milk and cereal.

I held my breath as I watched him pick up the empty milk carton and frown. "Is there any milk left?" he asked me, his own back now turned towards mom.

I blinked at him and slowly shrugged.

His frown got deeper and he turned to face me with a concerned look. "Are you okay, you look like you've seen a…"

His words got stuck in mid sentence as his eyes finally caught the person sitting across from him.

I sucked in a deep breath of air and watched as the two saw each other for the first time in almost 20 years.

The silence in the room was almost unbearable but I dared not to break it. This was their moment. I knew my father had always been waiting, hoping for her to return. He had to have given up by now, or at least have been close. But now she was here in front of him - and I knew exactly how he felt.

I smiled as the first word escaped my father's lips, happy that he had chosen that word to break the silence. It was not so much as a word, but a name… a name that had not been spoken out loud amongst the Al bhed for so many years. A name that even I had not heard in quite a while, and I was thankful that my father was the one who finally said it after all this time.

A name we had all missed.

A person we had all missed…dearly.

"Rikku."

* * *

  
_Finally the last and final chapter is up!  
Hopefully it was worth the wait._

A special thanks to Rikku the bluefirevixon for bettareading.

**Read** and **review** please


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